Airlines

JetBlue Airways posts strong second quarter results

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JetBlue Airways has reported a net income of $179 million in the second quarter (Q2) of 2019 – compared to a loss of $121 million in Q2 of 2018, while revenue rose 9.2 per cent to $2.105 billion from $1.928 billion.

The airline said in the third quarter, capacity is expected to increase between three and five per cent year-over-year. For the full year 2019, JetBlue expects capacity to increase between 5.5 and 6.5 per cent.

“We are excited with the progress we are making on our ‘building blocks’ and towards our 2020 financial goals. As we look to the second half of 2019, we expect a return to margin expansion and EPS growth,” said Robin Hayes, JetBlue’s chief executive officer.

“Airbus has recently communicated additional A321neo delays that will reduce our 2020 growth plans and naturally add pressure to our CASM ex-fuel. Despite these delays, we remain confident that we can execute both our unit cost commitments and achieve our $2.50 to $3.00 earnings per share target for 2020.”

“We believe our work is positioning us for success into the next decade. Next year we anticipate the first delivery of our margin-accretive A220s, a game-changing aircraft to further help us reduce our unit costs, improve our margins and increase our EPS.

“We are thrilled that we recently converted 13 additional A321s in our existing order book to A321 XLRs, and we expect to begin our European service by adding London from Boston and New York starting in 2021.”

President and chief operating officer, Joanna Geraghty said in Q2, capacity grew 5.9 per cent, due to a solid completion factor in the quarter, despite runway construction in Fort Lauderdale and JFK, and smaller projects elsewhere in its network.

“We continue to adapt to an always changing industry environment. This quarter we saw new challenges in the Caribbean, in Punta Cana leisure markets. Leisure is an important part of our business, but the majority of our traffic to the Dominican Republic is VFR, or ‘visiting friends and relatives’ that has proven to be more resilient,” she added.

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