JetBlue Airways Corp. reported its (JBLU) third-quarter earnings
rose 58% and the U.S. discount carrier also unveiled changes in
plans to improve its fleet to more closely align with demand and
reduce costs.
JetBlue said the fleet plan includes deferring 24 Embraer SA
(ERJ, EMBR3.BR) 190 aircraft to between 2020 and 2022 from the
current 2014 and 2018. The plan also includes the conversion of 18
Airbus A320s to A321s and an incremental order for 15 A321ceo and
20 A321neo aircraft.
"While the E190 is critical to our continued success in Boston
and San Juan, we are now at the point where our network growth
calls for larger gauge aircraft," President and Chief Executive
Dave Barger said. The company also expects the "fleet restructuring
plan will allow us to accelerate attractive growth opportunities at
Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport."
JetBlue said fuel savings associated with the new engine option
A320 family is forecast to be 12% to 15% compared with the current
engine option A320 family.
The company has continued to expand by increasing capacity and
adding new destinations. JetBlue reiterated its 2013 capacity
growth projection for the year of 5.5% to 7.5%.
JetBlue has tweaked its model over the years, in many ways
becoming more like a full-service carrier. It added a
frequent-flier plan, began overseas flights to the Caribbean and
northern Latin America, added rows of coach seats with more legroom
that are sold for higher fares, instituted a fee for the second
checked bag and has plans to add premium seats.
JetBlue reported a profit of $71 million, or 21 cents a share,
up from $45 million, or 14 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue
increased 10% to $1.44 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters
recently expected $1.44 billion.
Passenger revenue per available seat mile, which is an important
measure of performance for the industry, improved by 5.4%.
Passenger traffic rose 5.4% and capacity grew 5.1%. The
percentage of seats filled--or load factor--was up at 85% from
84.8%.
Shares closed Monday at $7.53 and were inactive in recent
premarket trading. The stock is up 32% this year.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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