US Airways on Wednesday maintained the second-quarter-profit
streak established by other major domestic carriers, reporting its first net
profit in years at $279 million, only to be broken by American Airlines' $10.7
million net loss.
US Airways president Scott Kirby attributed the strong results to what
he called a "tepid recovery," one in which demand for air travel is
lifting, but the economy is not yet improving at a rate to similarly lift the
cost of oil.
Total revenue per available seat mile increased 19 percent for the
quarter, US Airways reported. "All of our revenue metrics are up
dramatically year over year, but still down slightly from their peak in
2008," Kirby said, reminding investors that the second and third quarters
of 2008 with which he is making comparisons "represent the all-time high
for airline revenues, as the economy was strong, and airlines responded to high
fuel prices with aggressive price increases."
American also reported positive revenue gains from the same period in 2009,
with mainline unit revenue growing nearly 17 percent in the second quarter, but
it was not enough to translate into profits for the carrier. American
attributed its loss-making margins to labor expenses, which officials said
saddle the carrier with a $600 million annual cost disadvantage relative to
peers that have amended contracts through bankruptcy in the past decade.
Also contributing to its relative underperformance, the carrier said it has
missed out on the revenue opportunities enjoyed by many of its legacy
competitors operating on the transatlantic with antitrust immunity. However,
American management anticipates that this week’s final clearance from the U.S.
Transportation Deptartment to move forward with an antitrust-immune joint
venture with Oneworld partners British Airways, Iberia, Royal Jordanian and
Finnair would translate into hundreds of millions of dollars of annual revenue
once implemented.