Virgin America on April 28 will add new nonstop service between Dallas Love Field and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, competing directly with Southwest Airlines, the carrier announced Wednesday during its fourth-quarter earnings call.
President and CEO David Cush called the route "a monopoly route that has long suffered high fares" and said the carrier is aiming to lower fares as much as 30 percent to 40 percent. That would stimulate demand on the route from "a lot of drive traffic that would rather fly with the right prices" as well as give Virgin America additional connection opportunities from Washington, D.C., and New York, he said.
For the fourth quarter, Virgin America reported a net income of $3.87 million, compared with $14.18 million in the fourth quarter of 2013. Excluding $24.2 million in one-time expenses, including $20.4 million related to its November 2014 initial public offering, the net income was the highest for a fourth quarter in the carrier's history.
Virgin America's average fare during the quarter declined 1.4 percent to $204.33, and yield per passenger mile declined 1.8 percent. Passenger revenue per available seat mile increased 1.5 percent year over year during the quarter, and cost per available seat mile increased 8 percent.
Capacity declined 0.3 percent year over year during the quarter, and traffic increased 3.1 percent. As such, Virgin America's load factor increased 2.7 percentage points year over year to 81.2 percent.
For the full year, Virgin America reported a net income of $60.1 million, compared with $10.1 million in 2013.