New York, July 28th (TradersHuddle.com) - The NYSE Airline index ended the session lower by closing at $40.27, which represents -0.62% versus previous day close. The airline index was mixed with a slight upside bias with 8 out of 13 airlines trading higher.

Alaska Air (NYSE:ALK) was the top performer of the sector today closing at $51.46 representing 0.98%. versus the previous trading session. Shares of Alaska Air , the Airline serving destinations within the state of Alaska and the West Coast of the United States have defined support at $45.80 and resistance at $49.53.

US Airways (NYSE:LCC) was also among the top performers, closed the trading session at $10.62 representing 0.76% from its previous close. US Airways, the Phoenix based airline has calculated support and resistance levels at $8.05 and $9.65 respectively. The other top performer was Lan Airlines (NYSE:LFL), which closed the trading session at $22.97 representing 0.53% from the previous trading session.

The sector's worst performers include Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes (NYSE:GOL) that closed the trading session at $13.26 or -3.07% from the previous close. Shares of Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes, the low fare Brazilian domestic airline have defined support at $12.65 and resistance at $13.92. Also among the worst performers was SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW), which closed the trading session at $12.49 representing -2.65% from the previous trading session.

Benchmark crude for September delivery was lower closing the trading session at $76.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange lower by $-0.68 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.