JetBlue posts $50m Q3 profit as fares, ancillary revenues rise

JetBlue Airways, reacting to a 37% YOY increase in fuel prices, doubled down on its plan to “improve our earnings, particularly in the areas we can control,” CEO Robin Hayes said in a Q3 earnings call Tuesday. “We are taking actions to recapture higher fuel costs through price, both with fare increases over recent months and through higher ancillary revenue initiatives,” Hayes said. “We are on track to hit our 2018 CASM ex-fuel guidance, despite pulling capacity in both the third and fourth quarters to adjust to higher fuel prices.” JetBlue EVP-commercial & panning Marty St. George said the airline’s flown capacity for Q3 grew by 8.7% and Q4 capacity growth is expected to be between 7.5% and 9.5%. “Given the 2.9 points of lost capacity from hurricanes in the fourth quarter of 2017, our schedule-to-schedule capacity growth is approximately 6% for the fourth quarter of 2018,” St. George said. “[It] includes a previously announced 2 point ASM growth reduction to mitigate the impact of higher oil, [which] follows the 0.5 point reduction related to the third quarter.” The airline posted a $50m net profit for Q3, down 72.1% from a $181m net profit in the Q3 2017. While total revenues increased 10.5% to $2b, JetBlue’s operating expenses rose 28.1%, to $1.9b, with fuel and related taxes rising 48.4% YOY, from $347m to $515m. <br/>