08:08 AM EDT, 08/13/2024 (MT Newswires) -- JetBlue Airways' ( JBLU ) shares were down nearly 4% in Tuesday's premarket activity, continuing its slide after its credit ratings with S&P and Moody's were downgraded Monday.

Jetblue ( JBLU ) shares were down nearly 21% at $4.80 at the close of trading Monday on the Nasdaq.

The carrier said early Monday it plans to issue $2.75 billion of new debt secured by its loyalty program, TrueBlue. S&P lowered the airline's credit rating to "B-" from "B." Moody's dropped its rating to B3 from B2.

The debt issuance weakens JetBlue's ( JBLU ) credit metrics as the carrier faces a weaker operating environment, S&P said.

"While we acknowledge management's clear pivot toward profitability and expect improvement over our forecast period, we do not expect these initiatives to translate into significant improvement over the next 12 to 18 months," S&P said. It expects JetBlue's ( JBLU ) funds from operations to debt ratio to remain in the low single digits through 2025 alongside negative net cash flow.

Moody's attributed its downgrade of the airline to its expectation that bringing the airline's operating profit and cash flow to upgrade levels would take several years. It anticipates JetBlue ( JBLU ) will have 'negative free cash' of $2.2 billion in 2024 and $1.4 billion in 2025, "driven in part by roughly $3 billion in cumulative capital investment over the next two years."

Jetblue ( JBLU ) didn't immediately respond to an MT Newswires request for comment.

Price: 4.6098, Change: -0.19, Percent Change: -3.96