Spirit Airlines has posted a 23.4% increase in first-quarter net profit to $37.7 million.
President and CEO Ben Baldanza said, “During the first quarter, our team did a great job serving our customers while overcoming the challenges caused by numerous severe winter storms and managing to the new crew duty and rest rules. Our solid operational and financial performance in the first quarter is a great start to the year and provides a firm foundation as we grow our business and bring our low fares to more people in more places.”
For the first quarter 2014, Spirit's total operating revenue was $438.0 million, an increase of 18.2% compared to the first quarter 2013. The increase was primarily driven by its growth in flight volume. In the first quarter 2014, Spirit had 256 weather-related flight cancellations compared to 59 in the first quarter 2013, which negatively impacted revenue for the quarter.
Total revenue per available seat mile (RASM) for the first quarter 2014 was 11.57 cents, a decrease of 2.4% compared to the first quarter 2013. Average stage length for the first quarter 2014 increased 6.3% year over year, contributing an estimated 3.0 percentage point decline in RASM. In the first quarter 2014, RASM was further impacted by an estimated 1.5 percentage points due to the calendar shift of Easter occurring in April this year compared to in March last year.
Passenger flight segment (PFS) volume for the first quarter 2014 grew 17.9% year over year, and Spirit’s load factor for the first quarter 2014 increased 1.8 points year over year. Total revenue per PFS for the first quarter 2014 increased 0.3% year over year to $134.20.
Total operating expenses for the first quarter 2014 increased 17.9% year over year to $378.0 million on a capacity increase of 21.0%.
Spirit reported first quarter 2014 cost per available seat mile excluding special items and fuel (Adjusted CASM ex-fuel) of 6.06 cents, an increase of 0.3% compared to the same period last year. An increased number of scheduled maintenance events resulted in higher depreciation and amortization expense and higher maintenance, material and repairs expense per ASM, the airline stated. These expenses were partially offset by improved operational reliability, resulting in lower passenger re-accommodation expense (recorded within Other operating expense) per ASM.
In the first quarter 2014, Spirit took delivery of two new A320 aircraft, ending the quarter with 56 aircraft in its fleet. During the quarter, the airline signed an amendment to its aircraft purchase agreement with Airbus; changes include the conversion of five (5) A320 ceo aircraft to A321 ceo aircraft, the conversion of five (5) A320 neo aircraft to A321 neo aircraft, the acceleration of one (1) A321 ceo aircraft from 2016 to 2015, and the deferral of two (2) A320 ceo aircraft from 2017 to 2018.