Frontier Airlines posted net income of $4 million for its fiscal first quarter ended June 30, a solid improvement over a net loss of $2.7 million in the year-ago quarter. President and CEO Jeff Potter said the carrier was profitable despite "intensified competition" at its Denver hub--where Southwest Airlines launched flights this year--and high fuel costs, but warned that long-term profitability is still a challenge. "It doesn't end with one good quarter," he said.
Lufthansa offered an expanded version of its second-quarter and half-year results Friday, confirming last week's announcement that it posted a profit of €183 million ($232.8 million) in the three-month period ended June 30, up 57.8% from the year-ago quarter, and a six-month profit of €85 million compared to last year's breakeven result ( ATWOnline, July 27).
VivaAeroBus, a Mexican LCC startup formed by Mexican bus group IAMSA and Ryanair-backed RyanMex, said its first base will be Monterrey. It will start operations in September with two 737-300s.
IATA reported a 6.5% year-over-year increase in worldwide international RPKs in June and a 4.4% rise in ASKs, resulting in a 1.5-point gain in load factor to 78.3%. Highest regional load factor was North America's 85.3%, where RPKs rose 6.8% and capacity climbed 5.1%. Global freight traffic increased 4.1% against a 4.6% hike in ATKs. Air China flew 4.99 billion RPKs in June, a 19% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 15.8% to 6.6 billion ASKs and load factor climbed 2 points to 75.6%. Mountain Air Cargo carried 11.2 million lb. of freight in June.
The records piled up for AirTran Airways in the second quarter, with net income of $32 million--nearly triple the year-ago quarter's $11.4 million profit--the highest in any three-month period in its 13-year history. All-time quarterly records also were set for RPMs, capacity, enplaned passengers and load factor, figures that "speak clearly of the customers' demand for our product," according to Chairman and CEO Joe Leonard.
Air Deccan said its 21.2% market share in June made it India's second-largest airline, passing Indian Airlines, which held a 20.8% share, according to Deccan. The LCC operates 14 A320s and 21 ATR turboprops on 265 daily flights to 55 domestic destinations.
Midwest Air Group, parent of Midwest Airlines and Skyway Airlines, reported second-quarter net income of $8.8 million, compared to a loss of $8.2 million in the year-ago quarter, on a 34.4% jump in revenues to $176.9 million. "A strong increase in passengers and an improved fare environment helped offset soaring fuel costs in the quarter," Chairman and CEO Timothy Hoeksema said. The company posted operating income of $7.5 million, an improvement over an operating loss of $8.2 million last year. Expenses rose 21.2% to $169.3 million as fuel costs surged 49.4% to $60.6 million.
AirAsia will subcontract rural turboprop services to Fly Asian Xpress, or FAX, which intends to begin operations Aug. 1. AirAsia is taking over the majority of domestic routes once operated by Malaysia Airlines and will transfer operations of its six F50s and five Twin Otters to FAX.
Air Traffic Control Assn. named Peter Dumont president. Dumont is a VP and acting COO at Serco. Singapore Airlines Cargo named Singapore Airlines Executive VP-Marketing and the Regions Huang Cheng Eng as chairman and director effective Aug. 1. Huang joined SIA in 1974.
The merger of US Airways Group and America West Airlines continues to pay big dividends, according to President and CEO Doug Parker, who said it was the "primary driver" behind second-quarter net earnings of $305 million for the combined company.
Armavia A320 crash that killed 113 people in May was attributable to what appears to be a loss of situational awareness by the flight crew, Russian aviation officials stated yesterday, according to press reports. Last month's flight data recorder analysis revealed no problem with the aircraft ( ATWOnline, June 20). According to civil aviation head Tatyano Anodina, the aircraft was too low on approach and the crew was unable to respond in a timely manner to a GPWS alert.
UPS stock plunged more than 10% yesterday following its Tuesday release of below-expectation second-quarter results. Positive results are relative for the highly profitable express delivery company, which posted net income of $1.06 billion for the quarter, up 7.6% from a $986 million profit in the year-ago quarter. But analysts had predicted $1 per share earnings; the results came in at 97 cents a share for the quarter and triggered a steep drop in share price.
British Airways sold its 14.6% shareholding in WNS, an Indian business services company, for a net $96 million. BA said it will report a gain on the disposal of approximately £48 million ($88.7 million) in the second quarter and use the proceeds to pay existing debt, which amounted to £4.1 billion as of March 31.
Tiger Airways has recorded an 81% lift in passenger volume since moving to the Budget Terminal at Singapore Changi four months ago ( ATWOnline, March 28). Since then, 400,000 passengers have traveled with Tiger, load factor has leapt 21 points and capacity has doubled to six A320s. Next month the airline will operate almost 200 flights per week from the terminal.
Mesa Air Group's profit fell 36% in the third fiscal quarter ended June 30, a drop that company officials attributed to weather, fleet repositioning and the startup of Hawaiian carrier go! Mesa reported after-tax earnings of $10.9 million on operating revenues of $339 million. Revenues were up 13.6%, primarily as a result of increases in reimbursed fuel expenses. For the nine-month period, net income was $29 million, reduced from $41 million in the year-ago period.
Lufthansa yesterday released preliminary financial results for first-half 2006 that showed a profit of €85 million ($107.3 million) compared to €0.2 million in net earnings for the same period in 2005. Operating profit increased 17.4% to €297 million from €253 million, while revenues climbed 12.9% to €9.6 billion. LH said the addition of the stakes acquired in Swiss International Air Lines and the Eurowings companies should be taken into account when making year-over-year comparisons. The company will release complete data Friday.
LAN posted a profit of $16.5 million in the second quarter after a one-time charge of $6.4 million related to severance payments, reduced 38% from $26.6 million in the second quarter of 2005.
Copa Airlines flew 311.4 million RPMs in June, a 15.3% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 8.2% to 406.9 million ASMs, lifting load factor 4.7 points to 76.5%. Mesaba Airlines flew 108.6 million RPMs in June, a 38.8% decline from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 40% to 149.3 million ASMs and load factor rose 1.5 points to 72.8%.
Mellon Leasing announced the sale of three ex-Comair Embraer 120s to Everts Air of Alaska. Meridian Aerospace Group acted as exclusive agent for Mellon.
Sun Country Airlines announced that Petters Aviation, a subsidiary of Petters Group Worldwide and Whitebox Advisors, will purchase the carrier for an undisclosed price. The transaction will be finalized over the next few months. "This sale will allow us to continue to develop our strong consumer offering, as well as provide necessary capital for future business growth," Sun Country CEO Shaun Nugent said. The airline operates nine 737-800s to 31 destinations in the US, Mexico and the Caribbean.
Avient Solutions will supply its new inventory management system, SmartCargo, to Avient, an unaffiliated freight carrier operating from the UK and France on routes to Africa.
