Copa net profit jumps as Max crisis drags on

Higher travel demand and low fuel costs offset lost revenue opportunities as Panama’s Copa Airlines continues to post strong earnings even while struggling with the ongoing effects of the Boeing 737 Max crisis. For the full year 2019, net profit came in at $247m, compared to a net profit of $88.1m a year earlier, an almost three-fold increase, Panama’s flag carrier said Thursday. Full year revenue was $2.7b, a 1.1% increase from 2018. The grounding of Copa’s six 737 Max aircraft, which is central to the airline’s growth strategy in the region, has prompted the carrier to reduce its capacity increase expectation for 2020 to 1%, and to rethink its plans to phase its 14 Embraer E-190 jets out of the fleet. They had been slated for retirement on an accelerated time plan. "We have reduced our capacity growth expectations for 2020 and will have to slow down the Embraer transition, with most of the aircraft leaving in 2021,” CE Pedro Heilbron said.<br/>