JetBlue Airways has reported a 19% fall its second-quarter profit to $25 million compared with year-earlier net of $31 million. Revenue was up however by 22% to a record $1.15 billion. The carrier also stated that its unit revenue rose more than 13% in line with its average fare to $158.
The dip in profit was blamed on a fuel bill that was $160 million more than the year-earlier quarter, while its maintenance expenses rose 29% to $54 million.
The company’s profit of $25 million, or eight cents a share, fell just short of analysts’ estimates by two cents.
JetBlue chief David Barger announced that the airline will operate 150 daily flights from Boston by 2015, while expecting its competitors to reduce their capacity in Boston by 3% in the current quarter. The airline is focusing on business travellers to boost its Boston-Washington Reagan route.
Barger also sees the Caribbean as a major focus, with the expectation that JetBlue will have 25% of its capacity in that region and Latin American this year.
While its competitors are trimming capacity to cope with higher fuel costs, JetBlue continue to expand capacity, growing by nearly 9% in the latest quarter, while its traffic was up nearly 8%.
JetBlue expects to increase its capacity by 9% to 11% in the third quarter, typically the industry’s strongest period, and between 6% and 8% for the full year.
JetBlue has hedged 43% of its fuel consumption in the second quarter. However its fuel costs still rose as the realized fuel price of $3.31 a gallon is a 44% increase over the same period last year. The carrier said it expects its average fuel price for the full year, including the impact of hedges, to be $3.24 a gallon.