That First Quarter: Bad for Majors | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-07.07.25

Airborne-NextGen-07.08.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.09.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-07.10.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.11.25

Thu, Apr 24, 2003

That First Quarter: Bad for Majors

Most Results Are In

To no one's surprise, the first quarter of 2003 was one the major airlines would rather forget. Some did better than last year (e.g., America West lost roughly a fourth as much as the same-period in 2002); most did worse.

A couple that bucked the trend included Southwest and Air Tran. The first, flying 737s, made a tiny profit -- but still about twelve times what it made last year in the same period; and the second, flying the quick and miserly 717s, eeked out some black ink, in what is, so far, the worst-ever year for airlines.

UPS, because of its volume a 'major airline,' doesn't break out air revenues; we're only guessing that it may have been profitable. American Eagle isn't broken out from American; Air Canada is in a different accounting and legal world; and FedEx DHL aren't telling about their aviation segments separately, either. Rather than wait until April 29 for American Trans Air's results, we thought you'd be interested in the scorecard, so far.

American Q1 loss: $1.04 billion
United EBITDAR 12-1-02 through 2-28-03: $964 million loss
Delta Q1 loss: $466 million
Northwest Q1 loss: $396 million
US Airways emerged from Chapter 11 on March 31; comparable numbers unavailable
Continental Q1 loss: $221 million
Southwest Profit of $24 million
Alaska Q1 loss: $56.3 million
Air Tran Profit of $2 million
America West Q1 loss: $62 million
UPS: $134 million profit (for international package segment -- 'airline' breakout not released)
American Trans Air announcing April 29


...and, for what it's worth, Boeing lost $478 million.

From the Biggest:

"Our first quarter results were truly dreadful," noted AMR's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Don Carty. "The results we reported today clearly demonstrate the negative effects from high fuel prices leading up to the Iraq war, and passenger concern about traveling before and after fighting commenced," Carty said.

"The fact remains that we are confronting a brutally difficult financial and business environment," he said. "We are beset on all sides by a struggling economy, the continued uncertainties regarding hostilities in the Middle East, concerns regarding the SARS outbreak, fuel prices that are significantly higher than they were a year ago, and fare levels that are at 30-year lows. All told, it's a perilous climate and our success is far from assured," Carty said.

Additionally, given the fluidity of AMR's current situation, the planned conference between AMR's Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Campbell and members of the financial community and the media was canceled Wednesday.

FMI: www.airlines.org

Advertisement

More News

Airborne 07.11.25: New FAA Boss, New NASA Boss (Kinda), WB57s Over TX

Also: ANOTHER Illegal Drone, KidVenture Educational Activities, Record Launches, TSA v Shoes The Senate confirmed Bryan Bedford to become the next Administrator of the FAA, in a ne>[...]

Airborne-Flight Training 07.10.25: ATC School, Air Race Classic, Samson School

Also: Sully v Bedford, Embraer Scholarships, NORAD Intercepts 11, GAMA Thankful Middle Georgia State University will be joining the Federal Aviation Administration’s fight ag>[...]

Airborne Affordable Flyers 07.03.25: Sonex HW, BlackShape Gabriel, PRA Fly-In 25

Also: DarkAero Update, Electric Aircraft Symposium, Updated Instructor Guide, OSH Homebuilts Celebrate The long-awaited Sonex High Wing prototype has flown... the Sonex gang tells >[...]

Airborne-Flight Training 07.10.25: ATC School, Air Race Classic, Samson School

Also: Sully v Bedford, Embraer Scholarships, NORAD Intercepts 11, GAMA Thankful Middle Georgia State University will be joining the Federal Aviation Administration’s fight ag>[...]

Rick Kenin New Board Chair of VAI

30-Year USCG Veteran Aviator Focusing On Member Benefits The Vertical Aviation International Board of Directors announced its new leadership officers in April, and all began their >[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC