BTS Releases Second Quarter 2003 Airline Financial Data; Regional Passenger
Airlines Report Highest Rate of Domestic Profit
PDF
|
Contact |
BTS 22-03
Dave Smallen
202-366-5568 |
|
Tuesday, October 7, 2003 - The seven largest regional/commuter airlines had the
highest domestic operating margins ― an industry measure of profitability
― of any carrier groups during the second quarter of 2003, the Bureau
of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation
reported today in a release of preliminary data.
This group of regional/commuter carriers reported a domestic operating profit
of 14.2 percent for the second quarter, above the margin of 8.4 percent reported
by seven selected low-cost air carriers and the 5.4 percent loss reported by
seven selected network carriers (Table 1).
Domestic operating margin measures the operating profit
or loss as a percentage of the airline’s total domestic operating revenue.
The selected low-cost carriers showed an improved
profit margin over the second quarter of 2002 while the selected network carriers
reduced their operating loss margin from a year earlier. Some regional carriers were not required to
file detailed financial reports with BTS during the second quarter of 2002.
Network carriers operate a significant portion of their
flights using at least one hub where connections are made for flights on a spoke
system. Low-cost
carriers are those that the industry generally recognizes as operating under
a low-cost business model. Regional/commuter carriers provide service from
small cities, using primarily smaller regional jets to help support the network
carriers’ hub and spoke systems. The selected groups consist of the seven carriers
with the highest annual revenue in each group except that recently bankrupt
Hawaiian Airlines has been excluded from the low- cost carriers.
The largest operating loss margins were reported by United Airlines, American
Airlines and US Airways, all network carriers (Table 2).
The top operating profit margins were reported by JetBlue, a low-cost carrier,
(Table 3) Atlantic Coast and American Eagle Airlines,
both regional carriers (Table 4).
Although the regional/commuter carriers reported the lowest total domestic
revenue of the three groups, they had the highest unit revenues of 15.6 cents
per available seat mile (Table 5). These higher unit
revenues generally reflect the shorter flights flown by the regional/commuter
carriers. They average flights of 250 to 400 miles, compared to 900 miles for
the network carriers.
Domestic unit revenue measures revenues against capacity by dividing
domestic operating revenues by domestic available seat miles.
Overall, the highest unit revenues were reported by Atlantic Coast, Air Wisconsin
and American Eagle (Table 8). The lowest unit revenues
were reported by ATA Airlines, JetBlue and Spirit Airlines (Table
7.) US Airways reported the top unit revenues among the selected network
carriers (Table 6).
The regional/commuter carriers also reported the highest unit costs, 13.3 cents
per available seat mile, despite having the lowest total operating expenses
of the three selected groups (Table 9). The low-cost
carriers reported the lowest unit costs, 7.5 cents per available seat mile.
All of the selected low-cost carriers had lower unit costs than any of the regional/commuter
or network carriers (Table 10, Table
11 and Table 12).
Domestic unit cost measures expenses against capacity
by dividing domestic operating expenses by domestic available seat miles.
The carriers with the top unit costs were Atlantic
Coast,
US Airways and Air Wisconsin. The carriers with the lowest unit costs were
JetBlue,
ATA and Spirit.
The regional/commuter carriers reported the highest passenger revenue yields
― at 24.9 cents per revenue passenger mile more than twice the rate for
the network and low-cost carriers (Table 13).
Domestic passenger revenue yield measures passenger revenues
against total travel by dividing domestic passenger revenues by domestic revenue
passenger miles.
The top passenger revenue yields were reported by Atlantic Coast, American
Eagle and Air Wisconsin (Table 16). The lowest passenger
revenue yields were reported by ATA, Jet Blue and America West Airlines (Table
15). US Airways reported the top revenue yield of any network carrier (Table
14).
Note: Second-quarter 2003 operating expenses
for Continental Airlines, American,
and ATA include a one-time Wartime Emergency Appropriation. The carriers’ security
payment refund was booked as an expense offset. Also, in the following
tables, “N/A”
indicates data are not yet allowed to be released because of confidentiality
limits or data were not yet in the BTS computer system at the time of the data
runs.
Table 1: Domestic Operating profit/(loss) margin (in
percent)
Passenger Airlines by Group
Ranked by 2nd Quarter 2003 Margin
(Operating Profit/Loss as Percent of Total Operating Revenue)
Excel | CSV
1 |
Regionals |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
14.2 |
228.8 |
2 |
Low-Cost |
7.0 |
1.6 |
1.9 |
0.7 |
8.4 |
258.9 |
3 |
Network |
-11.5 |
-18.7 |
-18.2 |
-18.7 |
-5.4 |
-695.1 |
|
Total |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
-1.2 |
-207.4 |
Source: Form 41; Schedule P1.2
Table 2: Domestic Operating profit/(loss) margin (in percent)
Network Carriers
Ranked by 2nd Quarter 2003 Margin
(Operating Profit/Loss as Percent of Total Operating Revenue)
Excel | CSV
1 |
Continental |
-20.5 |
-14.8 |
-13.2 |
-19.1 |
8.8 |
113.4 |
2 |
Alaska |
-0.5 |
3.5 |
-12.3 |
-13.5 |
1.6 |
7.6 |
3 |
Northwest |
-0.1 |
-2.7 |
-16.6 |
-12.0 |
0.2 |
3.4 |
4 |
Delta |
-3.6 |
-6.4 |
-6.2 |
-12.1 |
-6.0 |
-173.7 |
5 |
US Airways |
-12.5 |
-15.8 |
-13.1 |
-13.9 |
-7.1 |
-106.9 |
6 |
American |
-18.5 |
-42.3 |
-22.2 |
-23.0 |
-9.2 |
-283.6 |
7 |
United |
-15.2 |
-22.1 |
-34.7 |
-30.3 |
-12.1 |
-255.4 |
|
Group Total |
-11.5 |
-18.7 |
-18.2 |
-18.7 |
-5.4 |
-695.1 |
Source: Form 41; Schedule P1.2
Table 3: Domestic Operating profit/(loss) margin (in percent)
Low-Cost Carriers
Ranked by 2nd Quarter 2003 Margin
(Operating Profit/Loss as Percent of Total Operating Revenue)
Excel | CSV
1 |
Jet Blue |
18.6 |
13.7 |
17.0 |
15.9 |
18.7 |
45.6 |
2 |
AirTran |
6.4 |
4.2 |
7.2 |
4.0 |
13.1 |
30.7 |
3 |
Southwest |
12.8 |
6.6 |
6.3 |
3.4 |
9.3 |
140.3 |
4 |
Spirit |
-0.2 |
-6.1 |
-3.7 |
1.0 |
6.8 |
7.5 |
5 |
ATA |
-11.8 |
-10.3 |
-13.9 |
-3.5 |
5.6 |
15.6 |
6 |
Frontier |
-3.4 |
-3.9 |
-5.0 |
-13.6 |
4.3 |
6.1 |
7 |
America West |
-0.6 |
-8.6 |
-7.9 |
-9.4 |
2.4 |
13.0 |
|
Group Total |
7.0 |
1.6 |
1.9 |
0.7 |
8.4 |
258.9 |
Source: Form 41; Schedule P1.2
Table 4: Domestic Operating profit/(loss) margin (in percent)
Commuter/Regional Carriers
Ranked by 2nd Quarter 2003 Margin
(Operating Profit/Loss as Percent of Total Operating Revenue)
Excel | CSV
1 |
Atlantic Coast |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
18.3 |
41.5 |
2 |
American Eagle |
5.6 |
-23.0 |
8.5 |
9.6 |
16.2 |
44.9 |
3 |
Atlantic Southeast |
13.7 |
10.5 |
11.7 |
11.2 |
15.3 |
32.1 |
4 |
Comair |
N/A |
N/A |
-1.7 |
5.6 |
13.6 |
33.8 |
5 |
Express Jet |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
13.4 |
12.4 |
37.7 |
6 |
Air Wisconsin |
6.3 |
8.7 |
8.2 |
6.8 |
11.6 |
14.5 |
7 |
Sky West |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
11.4 |
24.3 |
|
Group Total |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
14.2 |
228.8 |
Source: Form 41; Schedule P1.2
Table 5. Airline Domestic Unit Revenue (Cents Per Mile)
Passenger Airlines by Group
Ranked by 2nd Quarter 2003 Domestic Unit Revenue
(Domestic Operating Revenue Per Available Seat Mile)
Excel | CSV
1 |
Commuter/Regional |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
15.6 |
1,606.1 |
2 |
Network |
10.3 |
9.6 |
10.0 |
10.6 |
11.4 |
12,879.2 |
3 |
Low-Cost |
8.2 |
7.7 |
7.7 |
7.6 |
8.2 |
3,074.0 |
|
Industry Total |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
10.90 |
17,559.3 |
Source: Form 41; Schedule P1.2. T100; T2 Data
Table 6. Airline Domestic Unit Revenue (Cents Per Mile)
Network Carriers
Ranked by 2nd Quarter 2003 Domestic Unit Revenue
(Domestic Operating Revenue Per Available Seat Mile)
Excel | CSV
1 |
US Airways |
14.0 |
12.4 |
13.9 |
13.8 |
15.1 |
1,510.1 |
2 |
Delta |
9.9 |
9.4 |
10.5 |
11.9 |
13.0 |
2,907.6 |
3 |
Northwest |
11.0 |
10.6 |
10.9 |
10.5 |
11.3 |
1,520.1 |
4 |
Continental |
10.2 |
9.4 |
9.7 |
9.9 |
10.7 |
1,286.8 |
5 |
American |
9.2 |
8.5 |
8.8 |
10.3 |
10.6 |
3,067.6 |
6 |
Alaska |
9.9 |
10.0 |
9.3 |
9.4 |
10.0 |
472.6 |
7 |
United |
10.2 |
9.1 |
9.2 |
9.2 |
9.8 |
2,114.5 |
|
Group Total |
10.3 |
9.5 |
10.0 |
10.7 |
11.4 |
12,879.2 |
Source: Form 41; Schedule P1.2. T100; T2 Data
Table 7. Airline Domestic Unit Revenue (Cents Per Mile)
Low-Cost Carriers
Ranked by 2nd Quarter 2003 Domestic Unit Revenue
(Domestic Operating Revenue Per Available Seat Mile)
Excel | CSV
1 |
AirTran |
9.1 |
8.5 |
9.0 |
8.9 |
9.5 |
233.9 |
2 |
Frontier |
8.2 |
11.2 |
7.9 |
7.8 |
8.7 |
142.4 |
3 |
Southwest |
8.6 |
7.9 |
8.0 |
7.8 |
8.5 |
1,515.1 |
4 |
America West |
7.8 |
7.2 |
7.4 |
7.5 |
8.1 |
548.1 |
5 |
Spirit |
7.3 |
6.7 |
7.2 |
7.6 |
7.8 |
109.7 |
6 |
Jet Blue |
7.7 |
7.4 |
7.6 |
7.4 |
7.5 |
244.7 |
7 |
ATA |
6.9 |
6.5 |
6.2 |
6.5 |
6.8 |
280.1 |
|
Group Total |
8.2 |
7.7 |
7.7 |
7.6 |
8.2 |
3,074.0 |
Source: Form 41; Schedule p1.2. T100; T2 Data.
Table 8. Airline Domestic Unit Revenue (Cents Per Mile)
Commuter/Regional Carriers
Ranked by 2nd Quarter 2003 Domestic Unit Revenue
(Domestic Operating Revenue Per Available Seat Mile)
Excel | CSV
1 |
Atlantic Coast |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
20.0 |
227.1 |
2 |
Air Wisconsin |
13.3 |
18.4 |
19.1 |
20.2 |
17.7 |
125.6 |
3 |
American Eagle |
21.9 |
20.9 |
19.5 |
18.3 |
17.6 |
277.2 |
4 |
Express Jet |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
17.5 |
15.6 |
304.9 |
5 |
Atlantic Southeast |
16.0 |
14.3 |
15.2 |
15.1 |
14.1 |
210.5 |
6 |
Sky West |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
14.3 |
13.8 |
212.7 |
7 |
Comair |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
13.5 |
13.0 |
248.1 |
|
Group Total |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
15.6 |
1,606.1 |
Source: Form 41; Schedule p1.2. T100; T2 Data.
Table 9. Airline Domestic Unit Costs (Cents per Mile)
Passenger Airlines by Group
Ranked by 2nd Quarter 2003 Domestic Unit Costs
(Domestic Operating Expenses per Available Seat Mile in cents)
Excel | CSV
1 |
Regionals |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
13.3 |
1,377.3 |
2 |
Network |
11.5 |
11.3 |
11.8 |
12.6 |
12.0 |
13,574.3 |
3 |
Low-Cost |
7.6 |
7.5 |
7.5 |
7.6 |
7.5 |
2,815.1 |
|
Industry Total |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
11.0 |
17,766.7 |
Source: Form 41; Schedule p1.2. T100; T2 Data.
Table 10. Airline Domestic Unit Costs (Cents per Mile)
Network Carriers
Ranked by 2nd Quarter 2003 Domestic Unit Costs
(Domestic Operating Expenses per Available Seat Mile in cents)
Excel | CSV
1 |
US Airways |
15.7 |
14.3 |
15.7 |
15.7 |
16.2 |
1,617.0 |
2 |
Delta |
10.3 |
10.0 |
11.1 |
13.4 |
13.8 |
3,081.3 |
3 |
American |
10.9 |
12.1 |
10.8 |
12.6 |
11.6 |
3,351.1 |
4 |
Northwest |
11.0 |
10.8 |
12.7 |
11.7 |
11.3 |
1,516.7 |
5 |
United |
11.7 |
11.2 |
12.4 |
11.9 |
11.0 |
2,369.8 |
6 |
Alaska |
9.9 |
9.6 |
10.4 |
10.7 |
9.8 |
465.0 |
7 |
Continental |
12.3 |
10.8 |
11.0 |
11.8 |
9.7 |
1,173.4 |
|
Group Total |
11.5 |
11.3 |
11.8 |
12.6 |
12.0 |
13,574.3 |
Source: Form 41; Schedule P1.2. T100; T2 Data.
Table 11. Airline Domestic Unit Costs (Cents per Mile)
Low Cost Carriers
Ranked by 2nd Quarter 2003 Domestic Unit Costs
(Domestic Operating Expenses per Available Seat Mile in cents)
Excel | CSV
1 |
Frontier |
8.5 |
11.6 |
8.3 |
8.9 |
8.3 |
136.2 |
2 |
AirTran |
8.5 |
8.2 |
8.4 |
8.6 |
8.2 |
203.2 |
3 |
America West |
7.8 |
7.8 |
8.0 |
8.2 |
7.9 |
535.1 |
4 |
Southwest |
7.5 |
7.4 |
7.5 |
7.5 |
7.7 |
1,374.8 |
5 |
Spirit |
7.4 |
7.1 |
7.4 |
7.6 |
7.3 |
102.2 |
6 |
ATA |
7.7 |
7.2 |
7.0 |
6.7 |
6.4 |
264.6 |
7 |
Jet Blue |
6.3 |
6.4 |
6.3 |
6.2 |
6.1 |
199.1 |
|
Group Total |
7.6 |
7.5 |
7.5 |
7.6 |
7.5 |
2,815.1 |
Source: Form 41; Schedule P1.2. T100; T2 Data.
Table 12. Airline Domestic Unit Costs (Cents per Mile)
Regional/Commuter Carriers
Ranked by 2nd Quarter 2003 Domestic Unit Costs
(Domestic Operating Expenses per Available Seat Mile in cents)
Excel | CSV
1 |
Atlantic Coast |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
16.3 |
185.6 |
2 |
Air Wisconsin |
12.5 |
16.8 |
17.5 |
18.8 |
15.7 |
111.1 |
3 |
American Eagle |
20.7 |
25.6 |
17.9 |
16.5 |
14.7 |
232.3 |
4 |
Express Jet |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
15.2 |
13.7 |
267.3 |
5 |
Sky West |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
11.9 |
12.2 |
188.4 |
6 |
Atlantic Southeast |
13.8 |
12.8 |
13.4 |
13.4 |
11.9 |
178.4 |
7 |
Comair |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
12.7 |
11.2 |
214.2 |
|
Group Total |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
13.3 |
1,377.3 |
Source: Form 41; Schedule p1.2. T100; T2 Data.
Table 13. Domestic Passenger Revenue Yield (Cents per Mile)
Passenger Airlines by Group
Ranked by 2nd Quarter 2003 Domestic Revenue Yield
(Domestic Passenger Revenue per Revenue Passenger Mile in cents)
Excel | CSV
1 |
Regionals |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
24.9 |
1,595.7 |
2 |
Network |
12.4 |
11.4 |
12.2 |
12.4 |
11.9 |
10,229.7 |
3 |
Low-Cost |
10.6 |
10.2 |
10.8 |
10.7 |
10.4 |
2,906.4 |
|
Industry Total |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
12.3 |
14,731.8 |
Source: Form 41; Schedule P1.2. T100; T2 Data.
Table 14. Domestic Passenger Revenue Yield (Cents per Mile)
Network Carriers
Ranked by 2nd Quarter 2003 Domestic Revenue Yield
(Domestic Passenger Revenue per Revenue Passenger Mile in cents)
Excel | CSV
1 |
US Airways |
14.2 |
13.1 |
14.8 |
14.9 |
14.4 |
1,064.9 |
2 |
Northwest |
12.8 |
12.5 |
13.3 |
12.8 |
13.2 |
1,331.7 |
3 |
Alaska |
12.8 |
12.5 |
12.3 |
12.5 |
12.4 |
412.9 |
4 |
Delta |
12.1 |
11.2 |
12.5 |
13.0 |
11.8 |
1,989.2 |
5 |
Continental |
12.1 |
11.2 |
12.0 |
12.8 |
11.8 |
1,118.8 |
6 |
American |
12.0 |
11.0 |
11.7 |
12.5 |
11.5 |
2,504.5 |
7 |
United |
12.1 |
10.6 |
10.8 |
10.4 |
10.6 |
1,807.7 |
|
Group Total |
12.4 |
11.4 |
12.2 |
12.5 |
11.9 |
10,229.7 |
Source: Form 41; Schedule P1.2. T100: T2 Data.
Table 15. Domestic Passenger Revenue Yield (Cents per Mile)
Low-Cost Carriers
Ranked by 2nd Quarter 2003 Domestic Revenue Yield
(Domestic Passenger Revenue per Revenue Passenger Mile in cents)
Excel | CSV
1 |
AirTran |
12.4 |
12.4 |
13.3 |
12.8 |
12.5 |
226.1 |
2 |
Frontier |
12.6 |
19.0 |
12.9 |
12.7 |
12.3 |
134.9 |
3 |
Southwest |
11.6 |
11.0 |
12.0 |
11.7 |
11.4 |
1,434.7 |
4 |
Spirit |
9.5 |
8.6 |
9.0 |
9.9 |
10.1 |
107.4 |
5 |
America West |
9.7 |
9.0 |
9.6 |
10.1 |
9.7 |
518.5 |
6 |
Jet Blue |
8.9 |
8.5 |
9.0 |
8.9 |
8.5 |
237.0 |
7 |
ATA |
7.5 |
7.3 |
7.6 |
7.9 |
7.8 |
247.7 |
|
Group Total |
10.6 |
10.1 |
10.8 |
10.7 |
10.4 |
2,906.4 |
Source: Form 41; Schedule P1.2. T100; T2 Data.
Table 16. Domestic Passenger Revenue Yield (Cents per Mile)
Regional/Commuter Carriers
Ranked by 2nd Quarter 2003 Domestic Revenue Yield
(Domestic Passenger Revenue per Revenue Passenger Mile in cents)
Excel | CSV
1 |
Atlantic Coast |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
26.1 |
223.7 |
2 |
American Eagle |
31.7 |
30.9 |
29.8 |
30.5 |
25.9 |
273.6 |
3 |
Air Wisconsin |
18.6 |
26.0 |
29.1 |
28.3 |
22.1 |
124.1 |
4 |
Express Jet |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
28.7 |
22.0 |
304.2 |
5 |
Atlantic Southeast |
23.3 |
15.9 |
22.2 |
23.6 |
20.5 |
210.5 |
6 |
Comair |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
22.3 |
19.4 |
248.1 |
7 |
Sky West |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
20.7 |
19.2 |
211.5 |
|
Group Total |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
24.9 |
1,595.7 |
Source: Form 41; Schedule P1.2. T100; T2 Data.
Additional airline financial data can be found on the
BTS website at TranStats, the Intermodal Transportation Database, at http://transtats.bts.gov. Click on “aviation”, then on “Air Carrier Financial
Reports (Form 41 Financial Data)”, then click on “Schedule
P-12.” Note that this data source is actually BTS Form 41 Schedule P-1.2 but
the period is omitted, for technical reasons, in the TranStats data application.
Data are compiled from quarterly financial and monthly
traffic reports filed with BTS by commercial air carriers. Financial and traffic
data are preliminary and include data received by BTS as of Sept. 16. Data are subject to revision. Revised data from first-quarter 2003 and previous
quarters are posted on the BTS website at http://transtats.bts.gov. BTS has targeted Dec. 18 for release of third-quarter
data.
|