Low Cost Airline News - North America

Oct 29, 2007

AirTran Airways

AirTran Airways flew 1.26 billion RPMs in September, a 32.3% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 19.3% to 1.83 billion ASMs and load factor was up 6.7 points to 68.5%. Oct 22, 2007

Allegiant Air

Allegiant Air parent Allegiant Travel Co. promoted MD-Planning Andrew Levy to CFO. Scott Sheldon was named principal accounting officer. Oct 22, 2007

Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines Holdings reported net income for its fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30 of $17.3 million, improved over a net profit of $509,000 in the year-ago quarter, on a 19.4% increase in revenue to $372 million. Expenses rose 13.3% to $350.4 million and operating income was $22.8 million, a more than fivefold increase over $4 million last year. Oct 26, 2007

Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines second-quarter traffic grew 22.3% to 2.74 billion RPMs on an 11.9% increase in ASMs to 3.23 billion, producing a load factor of 84.7%, up 7.2 points. Yield dropped 3.2% to 12.42 cents as RASM lifted 5.5% to 10.06 cents and CASM fell 0.9% to 9.62 cents. CASM ex-fuel rose 1.6% to 6.3 cents. Oct 26, 2007

Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines received permission from DirecTV to show the World Series on televisions on its planes. "It has taken a lot of coordination and effort ... to make this happen," an airline spokesman said. "We're so appreciative that we'll be able to show the games to our passengers." Oct 25, 2007

JetBlue Airways

JetBlue Airways announced that it plans to cease operations at Columbus--home of low-fare startup Skybus Airlines--and Nashville effective Jan. 6. JetBlue flies to New York JFK from both cities, as well as to Boston from Columbus. It previously announced plans to defer or sell aircraft and slow capacity growth as it continues to recover from a period of financial loss and operational problems. Oct 24, 2007

JetBlue Airways

JetBlue Airways flew 1.84 billion RPMs in September, up 11.8% on the year-ago month, against a 13.7% rise in ASKs to 2.57 billion that lowered load factor 1.2 points to 71.4%. Oct 24, 2007

JetBlue Airways

JetBlue Airways flew 6.85 billion RPMs during the quarter, up 13% from the year-ago period, against a 10.9% lift in capacity to 8.36 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 1.6 points to 82%. Yield grew 7% to 10.4 cents, unit revenue was up 9.1% to 8.52 cents and CASM increased 5.5% to 8.22 cents, or 5.3% to 5.24 cents excluding fuel. Oct 24, 2007

JetBlue Airways

JetBlue Airways reported a $23 million third-quarter profit that, while representing a turnaround from a $500,000 loss in the year-ago period, did not sway the carrier from its continuing commitment to streamlining its operation. Third-quarter revenue climbed 21.9% year-over-year to $765 million while costs were up 17% to $686 million. Operating income soared 91.4% to $79 million from $41 million in the July-September 2006 period. Oct 24, 2007

JetBlue Airways

JetBlue Airways returned to third-quarter profitability on stronger revenue, nearly doubling Wall Street forecasts. The airline posted net income of USD$23 million, compared with a net loss of USD$500,000 in the comparable year-ago period. The carrier saw its fares rise 7 percent on average, which helped drive a 21.9 percent increase in operating revenue in the quarter. JetBlue filled 82 percent of its seats compared with 80.4 percent a year earlier. Oct 24, 2007

JetBlue Airways

JetBlue Airways will launch daily flights from New York JFK to Puerto Plata (from Jan. 10) and St. Maarten (from Jan. 17) and a daily Salt Lake City-Burbank service on Dec. 15, all aboard Airbus A320s. Oct 24, 2007

JetBlue Airways

JetBlue Airways's third-quarter operating margin of 10.3% improved from 6.6% in the year-ago quarter. It forecast a fourth-quarter operating margin of 3%-5% and a full-year figure of 5%-7%. Oct 24, 2007

JetBlue Airways

JetBlue Chief Executive Dave Barger said that bookings for Thanksgiving are strong and the carrier expects similar demand for the December holidays. Unit revenue growth -- a key measure of revenue performance -- is forecast at between 2 percent and 4 percent for the fourth quarter, and 5 percent and 7 percent for the full year. etBlue expects an operating margin in the fourth quarter of 3 percent to 5 percent. The launch of Virgin America in September on transcontinental routes out of San Francisco and Los Angeles cut into JetBlue's West Coast business. He did not provide specifics but said the impact did not exceed expectations. Oct 24, 2007

Southwest Airlines

Clever caption to earn blogger free Southwest travel. Southwest Airlines will give the blogger who submits the best caption for a photo a free ride to the BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas. "This contest is just a way for us to have a little fun with our bloggers, and, really, to celebrate the relationships we've built with them over the past year," said a Southwest spokesperson. Oct 23, 2007

Southwest Airlines, Worldspan

Southwest Airlines next year will list its flights on Worldspan as part of an effort to attract more business travelers. The airline has also increased its corporate sales force by 10 people since August. "We're going to go after the business traveler in a big way, and it will be obvious to all," CEO Gary Kelly said recently. Oct 25, 2007