JetBlue in the third quarter fared better than projected in terms of revenue and cash burn, which executives attributed to a "modest improvement" in demand.
Third-quarter revenue was down 76.4 percent year over year to $492 million, including a 77.8 percent decline in passenger revenue, but that decline was less sharp than the 80 percent decline JetBlue had expected for the quarter. In addition, daily cash burn for the quarter was $6.1 million, an improvement over JetBlue's expected $7 million to $9 million, CFO Steve Priest said during a Tuesday earnings call.
CEO Robin Hayes said the carrier has seen a "further steady improvement in bookings into the upcoming holiday season." The booking window remains close in, but it has continued to get longer even as a majority of states in the United States see a surge in Covid-19 cases, JetBlue president and COO Joanna Geraghty said.
"JetBlue has confirmed much of what we already know: Demand is leisure (and visiting friends and relatives) driven, and there are pockets of strength in Florida and the Caribbean," according to a Cowen and Co. research note.
Beside an improving demand outlook, cost-cutting measures also contributed to the lower-than-expected cash burn rate for the quarter, Priest said. That includes a deal reached with Airbus earlier this month to cut back some of its aircraft delivery schedules for the next few years.
In the fourth quarter, JetBlue expects revenue will be down 65 percent year over year and for capacity to be down 45 percent. The carrier projects daily cash burn to be between $4 million and $6 million in the fourth quarter.
JetBlue reported a net loss of $393 million in the third quarter, compared with net income of $187 million in the third quarter of 2019.
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