Despite a rise in revenue, Spirit Airlines recorded a loss for the second quarter as costs increased.
Late last month, the airline reached an agreement to be acquired by JetBlue for $3.8 billion.
On Wednesday morning, Spirit officials are set to discuss results with analysts.
Strong travel demand and increased rates weren’t enough to offset an increase in costs, and Spirit Airlines posted a deficit for the second quarter.
Less than two weeks after announcing a $3.8 billion sale to JetBlue Airways, which put an end to a months-long bidding war between JetBlue and Frontier Airlines for Spirit, Spirit released its financial results.
Spirit, situated in Miramar, Florida, reported a $52.4 million net loss for the three months that ended on June 30. From pre-pandemic 2019, revenue increased by over 35% to almost $1.37 billion. In comparison to three years earlier, expenses increased by more than 66 percent. The cost of petrol more than doubled.
However, the cost of travelling increased for consumers, with revenue per passenger rising from 2019 to $140.61 (including surcharges) by more than 24 percent. Spirit Airlines levies additional fees for services like seat selection and cabin baggage, just as other low-cost carriers.
Spirit anticipates pretax margins to fall between -1 and 1 percent in the current quarter due to capacity constraints in Florida. The Federal Aviation Administration announced this spring that it would hire additional air traffic controllers to handle an increase in traffic in the state.
In an effort to prevent flight disruptions—which were made worse last year by staffing shortages—Spirit, JetBlue, and other significant carriers have already scaled back their growth plans.
Even yet, Spirit said that flying increased by approximately 10% in the second quarter compared to the same period in 2018. In comparison to three years ago, it intends to increase its schedule by 14% in the third quarter and by 25% in the final three months of the year.
On a discussion with analysts scheduled for Wednesday at 8:30 a.m., airline executives will answer concerns about how they will control expenses and travel demand for the remainder of the year.
Other carriers have also been impacted by rising prices, notably JetBlue, which last week posted a loss for the second quarter.
Sun Country, a low-cost airline that specialises in leisure travel, reported a $3.9 million loss on Monday despite an increase in revenue of almost 30% from the previous year. Additionally, Mesa Air Group, a regional airline that operates flights for United and other airlines, reported a $10 million loss for the most recent quarter as a result of increased expenses brought on by the pilot shortages.
