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- Dec 15, 2001
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Unexpectedly strong demand in September and a successful push to get more connecting passengers fueled Frontier Airlines to its largest quarterly profit since 2000. The Denver-based carrier today reported net income of $17.3 million in the July-September period, breaking its string of three unprofitable quarters and solidly beating analyst expectations.
The financial results mark "one of the best quarters in the history of this airline from every perspective possible" including operation performance, revenue, profitability and occupancy, Sean Menke, the company's chief executive officer, said in a press release.
"While we carried record-breaking numbers of passengers, our operations responded with a level of service that positioned us as one of the top on-time performers in the industry," Menke said.
The carrier also said it now hopes to get final federal approval by the end of the year for its new turboprop service. Frontier initially planned to launch the service last summer, but the approval process has taken longer than expected.
"There's nothing definitive and it's not based on a document" from the Federal Aviation Administration, said Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas. "It's based on our best-guess estimate. We're doing everything we can to move the process along, and the FAA has been very cooperative."
The carrier's Lynx Aviation subsidiary will operate turboprop planes to nearby smaller cities and mountain and resort destinations.
In Frontier's fiscal second quarter, which ended Sept. 30, the carrier made 39 cents per diluted share compared with net income of $509,000, or 1 cent a share, in the same period last year.
This year's numbers include $4.3 million in startup costs for Lynx and the carrier's move to replace the seats on its planes. It also includes a $1.6 million in non-cash derivative gains. All of those items reduced net income by 6 cents per share.
Revenue hit $373 million, up 19 percent from a year earlier.
Frontier chalked up the results to solid growth during the quarter, which historically is its strongest of the year. The carrier's load factor — which measures how full its planes are — hit 84.7 percent, a sharp increase from 77.5 percent in the same period last year.
"The month of September was a surprise," said Paul Tate, Frontier's chief financial officer. "That generally is a very unseasonable month for us. But we had very robust load factors and that really carried the quarter."
Tate said the company benefitted from further capacity cutbacks by United Airlines, which is Denver's dominant carrier with about 55 percent of the market share. Frontier also held its own against discount giant Southwest Airlines, which has been growing rapidly and helped drive down fares.
The homegrown carrier saw more connecting traffic as well, the result of its moves to more aggressively sell one-stop flights through Denver inside the 21-day purchase window.
[email protected]
or 303-954-2744
The financial results mark "one of the best quarters in the history of this airline from every perspective possible" including operation performance, revenue, profitability and occupancy, Sean Menke, the company's chief executive officer, said in a press release.
"While we carried record-breaking numbers of passengers, our operations responded with a level of service that positioned us as one of the top on-time performers in the industry," Menke said.
The carrier also said it now hopes to get final federal approval by the end of the year for its new turboprop service. Frontier initially planned to launch the service last summer, but the approval process has taken longer than expected.
"There's nothing definitive and it's not based on a document" from the Federal Aviation Administration, said Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas. "It's based on our best-guess estimate. We're doing everything we can to move the process along, and the FAA has been very cooperative."
The carrier's Lynx Aviation subsidiary will operate turboprop planes to nearby smaller cities and mountain and resort destinations.
In Frontier's fiscal second quarter, which ended Sept. 30, the carrier made 39 cents per diluted share compared with net income of $509,000, or 1 cent a share, in the same period last year.
This year's numbers include $4.3 million in startup costs for Lynx and the carrier's move to replace the seats on its planes. It also includes a $1.6 million in non-cash derivative gains. All of those items reduced net income by 6 cents per share.
Revenue hit $373 million, up 19 percent from a year earlier.
Frontier chalked up the results to solid growth during the quarter, which historically is its strongest of the year. The carrier's load factor — which measures how full its planes are — hit 84.7 percent, a sharp increase from 77.5 percent in the same period last year.
"The month of September was a surprise," said Paul Tate, Frontier's chief financial officer. "That generally is a very unseasonable month for us. But we had very robust load factors and that really carried the quarter."
Tate said the company benefitted from further capacity cutbacks by United Airlines, which is Denver's dominant carrier with about 55 percent of the market share. Frontier also held its own against discount giant Southwest Airlines, which has been growing rapidly and helped drive down fares.
The homegrown carrier saw more connecting traffic as well, the result of its moves to more aggressively sell one-stop flights through Denver inside the 21-day purchase window.
[email protected]
or 303-954-2744
