rose $3.03, or 7.4 percent, to $44.07 in afternoon trading Thursday. Salaries, wages and benefits rose 25 percent to $1.7 billion due largely to more profit-sharing. Southwest’s fuel bill dropped to $936 million, making labor costs by far the airline’s biggest expense. Partly because of those flights, Southwest expects to increase passenger-carrying capacity next year by between 5 percent and 6 percent, slightly smaller than its 2015 growth.Īirlines have been posting record profits this year thanks to jet fuel prices, which began to plummet in summer 2014. This month, Southwest opened a new international terminal in Houston and began flights to several destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean. She predicted that Southwest will raise fares as its new markets mature. analyst Helane Becker said Southwest’s revenue-per-mile forecast was better than expected - Wall Street was looking for a decline of 1 percent. Southwest also cited the benefit of a new credit card contract with Chase.Ĭowen and Co. That’s a closely watched number in the airline business, and it rises when carriers charge higher average prices. ![]() Southwest, however, forecast that revenue for every seat flown one mile will rise 1 percent in the fourth quarter. That reduced Southwest’s average fares in 2015 and put pressure to match those prices on competitors such as American Airlines, which flies to the same places from nearby Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Southwest offered promotional fares on new long-distance flights from Dallas Love Field. Kelly said, as he has before, that fuel prices are volatile and he doesn’t want to be forced to constantly raise and lower fares to match changes in energy prices. The average fare on Southwest fell 4 percent, to $154.33 for a one-way ticket.Ĭonsumer advocates have said airlines should cut fares more deeply because they are saving so much money on fuel. That helped Southwest increase traffic by 9 percent and fill 85.4 percent of its seats, an increase of 1 percentage point from a year ago. Southwest has been growing rapidly in its hometown of Dallas since federal restrictions on flights at Love Field expired a year ago. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $5.1 billion. ![]() Revenue rose 11 percent, to $5.32 billion, which also topped the analysts’ forecast. That topped Wall Street expectations, as nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research predicted 92 cents per share. ![]() He cited solid demand, the smallest percentage of empty seats in Southwest’s history, and a new credit-card deal that brought in more cash.Įxcluding non-repeating items, Southwest said it earned 94 cents per share. “While it is true that the majority of the 71 percent surge in our earnings per share was due to a dramatic drop in jet fuel prices, there are a lot of other good things happening,” Kelly said on a call with analysts.
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