New York, April 15th (TradersHuddle.com) - The NYSE Airline index ended the session higher by closing at $40.582, which represents 1.2% versus previous day close. The airline index exhibited strong upside with 9 out of 13 airlines trading higher.

UAL (NASDAQ:UAUA) was the top performer of the sector today closing at $23.54 representing 5.28%. versus the previous trading session. Shares of UAL, the owner and operator of the Chicago baed airline and member of the Star Alliance have defined support at $18.5 and resistance at $20.81.

Tam (NYSE:TAM) was also among the top performers, closed the trading session at $18.94 representing 2.6% from its previous close. Tam, the Brazil based airline has calculated support and resistance levels at $17.54 and $18.47 respectively. The other top performer was Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes (NYSE:GOL), which closed the trading session at $13.65 representing 2.4% from the previous trading session.

The sector's worst performers include Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) that closed the trading session at $29.93 or -1.45% from the previous close. Shares of Ryanair, the low fare European airline have defined support at $26.53 and resistance at $30.29. Also among the worst performers was JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU), which closed the trading session at $6.66 representing -0.75% from the previous trading session.

Benchmark crude for May delivery was lower closing the trading session at $85.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange lower by $-0.35 from the previous trading session. Crude prices are closely watched by traders as they usually correlate with the airline stocks, given that a big component of the airlines' cost structure is covered by the price of fuel.