Spirit Airlines loses $288m loss in ‘challenging’ Q2

Spirit Airlines says Q2 2021 was “challenging” as the industry slowly bounces back, and that it faces a “choppy recovery”. The Miramar, Florida-headquartered ultra low-cost carrier lost $288m during the three months ending 30 June, Spirit says on 29 July. But June was the first month since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic that the airline actually made money, executives say. “This summer has proven to be operationally challenging and very busy, with full aircraft and full airports,” CE Ted Christie says. “There is still much to be done to attain sustained profitability, but the stage is set and we like how we are positioned.” “Demand trends in domestic and international markets saw significant improvement as the quarter progressed,” adds the airline’s chief commercial officer Matt Klein. The airline expects to be profitable in both remaining quarters this year, Christie adds. Revenue for Q2 came in at $859m, up from $139m in pandemic-plagued 2020, but still shy of the $1b it posted in the same period in 2019. The airline has yet to fully deploy its fleet; average per-aircraft daily utilisation is about 9.9h – 25% less than normal, Christie says. “Until we can get the airline back to full utilisation, it will be a margin drag… That’s not going to happen until the middle of next year,” Christie adds. “As the airline continues to ramp utilisation, unit costs will come down, so that’s a tailwind heading to the third and fourth quarter.”<br/>