JetBlue Sees Massive Increase in First Quarter Profit

JetBlue Airways announced financial results for the first quarter of 2016.

The airline reported $199 million in profit, a substantial 45.6% increase compared to $137 million in the first quarter of 2015.

Revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% to $1.6 billion. Passenger revenue per available seat mile, or Prasm, however, decreased by 8% year-over-year for the first quarter, down to 11.35 cents.

The airline’s passenger traffic in the first quarter was 11 billion revenue passenger miles, or RPMs, up 14.1% from 9.6 billion RPMs in the first quarter of 2015.  Capacity also rose by 14.1% year-over-year, up to 13 billion available seat miles, or ASMs, from 11.4 billion ASMs in 2015.

Along with the rest of the airline industry, lower fuel costs helped JetBlue’s bottom line. The airline said the amount it paid for fuel fell 35% to $215 million for the quarter, with an average price of $1.17 per gallon.

Meanwhile, passenger load factor in the fourth quarter decreased by 0.1 percentage points, down to 84.2% from 84.3% in the same period during the previous year.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)