ATLANTA - Higher fuel prices stung the parent of AirTran Airways, causing the usually profitable discount carrier to post a $12 million first-quarter loss.
The loss reported Wednesday for the January-March period equaled 9 cents a share. A year earlier, AirTran had a profit of $28.7 million, or 21 cents a share.
Excluding one-time items, the loss was 12 cents a share.
Revenue rose 11.7 percent to $605.1 million from $542 million a year earlier.
But AirTran, based in Orlando, Fla., saw a more than 50 percent rise in first-quarter fuel expenses compared with a year ago. Results were also hurt by the February winter storms.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting an adjusted loss of 13 cents a share on revenue of $606.2 million.
Also Wednesday, the parent of American Airlines was scheduled to report first-quarter results. On Tuesday, Delta Air Lines Inc., the world's largest carrier, reported a $256 million loss for the first three months of the year.
Across the industry, fares are higher and demand is up. There's also the possibility of further consolidation, with talks between United and US Airways, and separately between United and Continental.
Now, as the busy summer travel season approaches, many of the larger carriers hope to start turning profits again after posting heavy losses in 2009.
AirTran, thanks to its low non-fuel costs and its largely domestic focus, was profitable in every quarter of 2009 while most of its bigger rivals bled red ink.
But in the first quarter of this year, the impact of the winter snowstorms along the East Coast and the increase it saw in fuel expenses offset record revenue.
AirTran spent $200.2 million on aircraft fuel in the first quarter, compared to $132.9 million a year earlier.
AirTran's unrestricted cash balance at quarter's end was $534 million and its revolving line of credit was undrawn.
AirTran expects second-quarter capacity, as measured by available seat miles, to increase 4 percent.
Tuesday
June 24th, 2025
12:22AM
