Despite loss, US Airways remains optimistic

US Airways reported a first-quarter net loss of $103 million, narrowed from a net deficit of $237 million in the year-ago period, and said it made significant improvements absent special items.
Excluding net special credits and realized losses/gains on fuel heading, US said its net loss would have been $63 million in the quarter compared to a $321 million loss on a similar basis in the year-ago period. With international demand, particularly for business travel, dropping rapidly and badly hurting other major US carriers, Chairman and CEO Doug Parker claimed that our relatively higher domestic enplanements. . .means that we have a greater ability to capitalize. . .both in the current economic environment and also when the economy turns around.
Speaking to analysts and reporters, he added, We have less international exposure than [US's competitors] do and that turns out to be good right now . . .[The domestic market] is actually performing reasonably well right now.
He also touted US's great success with a la carte pricing and said it will continue to reap rewards from its array of ancillary fees and potential future fees. To that end, yesterday the carrier announced that passengers can pay checked bag fees ($15 for the first, $25 for the second on flights in the Americas) online at its website and will be charged an extra $5 per bag if the fees are paid at the airport for flights booked beginning yesterday for travel from July 9.
US competes with Southwest Airlines, which does not charge checked bag fees, on a number of its domestic routes, but President Scott Kirby said the fees on those routes are still revenue positive. The number of customers that have left US for SWA owing to the bag fees is small enough to be "lost in the noise of our data, he said.
First-quarter revenue declined 13.5% to $2.46 billion while expenses lowered 18.3% to $2.48 billion, producing an operating loss of $25 million, narrowed from an operating loss of $196 million in the year-ago period. Mainline traffic dropped 8.1% to 13.31 billion RPMs on a 7.4% cut in mainline capacity to 16.98 billion ASMs, leading to a load factor of 78.4%, down 0.6 point. Yield decreased 10.2% to 12.1 cents as PRASM sank 10.9% to 9.49 cents and CASM dipped 12% to 11.05 cents. CASM ex-fuel heightened 0.7% to 8.63 cents.
Parker, while declining to give a specific forecast, said it is not a stretch to say that US and other American carriers could earn full-year profits, ATW Daily News reported.
 

Source: Transportweekly