US Airways has reported a first-quarter net loss of $114 million, from a $45 million net deficit in the same quarter last year. The airline blamed fuel increases for the poor figures. The result is "obviously not moving in the direction we want it to move," Chairman and CEO Doug Parker told reporters.
Mainline traffic increased 4% to 13.57 billion RPMs on the back of a 2.8% rise in capacity to 17.04 billion ASMs, producing a load factor of 79.7%, up 1%. First-quarter mainline yield was up 7.6% on last year to 14 cents as PRASM rose 8.9% to 11.15 cents and CASM grew 7.9% to 13.09 cents. CASM ex-fuel decreased 1.3% to 8.76 cents.
First-quarter revenue rose 11.7% to $2.96 billion, but expenses were up 12.8% to $3 billion, including a 37.4% jump in fuel costs to $734 million. Operating loss was $39 million, from a $10 million operating loss in the 2010 first quarter. Parker noted that the airline’s total capacity is down 13% compared to 2005, the year in which US and America West Airlines merged, and is unlikely to be drawn down further. "We are now at a point, having shrunk as much as we have, where we’re very close to the absolute [ASM] minimums that our labor contracts will allow us to go," he explained. "We’ve gotten to the point where we can’t reduce anymore.