Airlines Just Miss Record For Revenue And Ten Year High for Profits
July 29, 2010 by Douglas A. McIntyre
For the 2nd quarter 2010, the nine largest airlines collectively reported $1.86 billion in net profits on $31.7 billion in revenues (net profits exclude $713 million for special items).
The Q2 revenue was the 2nd highest in history and just shy of 2008’s Q2 $33.3 billion record.
The Q2 profits missed the decade high set in 2007 by only $8 million. Q2 revenue and profits were slightly higher than AirlineFinancials.com projected earlier in the month.
American (AMR) as projected was the only major airline to report a loss for the recent Q2.
Based on net income margin performance ex-special items, Alaska (NYSE: ALK) led the industry
at 8.6%. The rest of the airlines were:
US Airways (NYSE: LCC) 8.36%
United NASDAQ: (UAUA) 8.33%
Continental (NYSE: CAL) 6.93%
Southwest (NYSE: LUV) 6.82%
Delta (NYSE: DAL) 6.72%
Air Tran (NYSE: AAI) 5.53%
JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU) 3.19%
American (NYSE: AMR) -.19%
Average Q2 margin for the industry was 5.87%
See following chart for selected Q2 revenue and income performance.
AirlineFinancials.com expects continued strong performance for the airline industry through at least
the current 3rd quarter.
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Disclosure- The above opinions and comments should not be used to determine the worth of any stock
or investment. At the time of writing, the author and his family did not hold stock and/or derivative
positions in any of the airlines covered in this article.
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Robert Herbst is an independent airline industry consultant. He is the founder of AirlineFinancials.com
which provides airline industry analysis and commentary for major US carriers. In addition to his
consulting work, Mr. Herbst was a commercial pilot from 1969 until January 2010. His aviation experience
and financial background provide a unique analytical perspective into the airline industry.
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