DENVER,
Jan. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Frontier Airlines (Nasdaq: FRNT)
today announced preliminary traffic results for
December 2006. Revenue
passenger miles decreased 2.2 percent to 606,723,000 for
December 2006 from
the same period last year. Available seat miles increased 1.7 percent to
889,373,000 for
December 2006 from the same period last year. This resulted
in a load factor for
December 2006 of 68.2 percent, a decrease of 2.7 points
from
December 2005, when the airline reported a load factor of 70.9 percent.
The airline carried 639,213 passengers during
December 2006, a 0.5 percent
decrease from
December 2005. The airline reported passenger yield of
11.38 cents for the month of
December 2006, a decrease of 1.3 percent from the
same period last year. Its passenger revenue per available seat mile was
7.76 cents, down .42 or 5.1 percent from
December 2005. For the month of
December 2006, the airline's average length of haul decreased 1.7 percent to
949 miles as compared to the same period last year.
"December passenger revenue performance was negatively impacted by
approximately $11 million due to two major December snowstorms, one of which
completely shut down our primary hub, Denver International Airport (DIA), for
almost 48 hours," said Jeff Potter, President and CEO of Frontier Airlines.
"In addition, while we are unable to provide a definitive snowstorm cost
estimate at this time, we do anticipate that there will be significant
variable expenses, such as glycol expense ($1.1 million in storm related
costs), partially offset by variable costs we didn't incur while the airport
was shut down. Combined with these net additional storm related expenses, our
loss of storm related available seat miles (ASMs) in the December quarter will
result in higher unit costs than previously anticipated."
The following table represents comparisons for the month of December
year-over-year, calendar 2006 year-over-year, fiscal 2007 year-over-year, and
the quarter ended December 31, 2006 year-over-year traffic results.
Increase/
December 2006 December 2005 (Decrease) Percent
Available Seat Miles
(ASM) 889,373,000 874,804,000 14,569,000 1.70%
Revenue Passenger
Miles 606,723,000 620,416,000 (13,693,000) (2.2%)
Load Factor 68.2% 70.9% (2.7) points N/A
Revenue Passengers
Carried 639,213 642,663 (3,450) (0.5%)
**Passenger Yield
(cents) 11.38 11.53 (.15) (1.3%)
**Passenger Revenue
Per ASM (cents) 7.76 8.18 (.42) (5.1%)
Average Length of
Haul 949 965 (16) (1.7%)
Calendar Year- Calendar Year- Increase/
to-Date 2006 to-Date 2005 (Decrease) Percent
Available Seat Miles 10,932,555,000 9,579,037,000 1,353,518,000 14.10%
Revenue Passenger
Miles 8,325,125,000 7,214,267,000 1,110,858,000 15.40%
Load Factor 76.2% 75.3% 0.9 points N/A
Revenue Passengers
Carried 8,897,520 7,459,420 1,438,100 19.30%
**Passenger Yield
(cents) 10.96 10.75 .21 2.00%
**Passenger Revenue
Per ASM (cents) 8.35 8.09 .26 3.20%
Average Length of
Haul 936 967 (31) (3.2%)
Fiscal Year-to- Fiscal Year-to- Increase/
Date 2007 Date 2006 (Decrease) Percent
Available Seat Miles 8,373,036,000 7,326,080,000 1,046,956,000 14.3%
Revenue Passenger
Miles 6,443,388,000 5,555,093,000 888,295,000 16.0%
Load Factor 77.0% 75.8% 1.2 points N/A
Revenue Passengers
Carried 6,917,633 5,783,948 1,133,685 19.6%
**Passenger Yield
(cents) 11.03 10.77 .26 2.4%
**Passenger Revenue
Per ASM (cents) 8.49 8.16 .33 4.0%
Average Length of
Haul 931 960 (29) (3.0%)
Quarter Ended Quarter Ended Increase/
Dec. 31, 2006 Dec. 31, 2005 (Decrease) Percent
Available Seat Miles 2,694,959,000 2,461,668,000 233,291,000 9.5%
Revenue Passenger
Miles 1,919,890,000 1,774,114,000 145,776,000 8.2%
Load Factor 71.2% 72.1% (0.9) points N/A
Revenue Passengers
Carried 2,085,712 1,872,199 213,513 11.4%
**Passenger Yield
(cents) 11.05 11.05 0 0.00%
**Passenger Revenue
Per ASM (cents) 7.87 7.96 (0.09) (1.1%)
Average Length of Haul 920 948 (28) (3.0%)
Frontier's fiscal year begins April 1 and ends March 31.
**Passenger yield and passenger revenue per available seat mile is
calculated from revenue derived only from the mainline revenue passengers
reported in this press release.
About Frontier Airlines Holdings, Inc.
Frontier Airlines Holdings, Inc. is the parent company of Denver-based
Frontier Airlines. Currently in its 13th year of operations, Frontier
Airlines is the second largest jet service carrier at Denver International
Airport, employing approximately 5,000 aviation professionals. With 55
aircraft and one of the youngest Airbus fleet in North America, Frontier
offers 24 channels of DIRECTV(R) service in every seatback along with 33
inches of legroom in an all coach configuration. In conjunction with Frontier
JetExpress operated by Horizon Air, Frontier operates routes linking its
Denver hub to 55 destinations including 46 U.S. cities in 28 states spanning
the nation from coast to coast, eight cities in Mexico and one city in Canada.
In November of 2006, Frontier and AirTran announced a first-of-its-kind
integrated marketing partnership that offers travelers the ability to reach
more than 80 destinations across four countries with low fares, aboard two of
the youngest fleets in the industry. In December of 2006 Frontier was
designated "Best Low Cost Carrier" in the U.S. by the readers of Business
Traveler magazine. For more in-depth information on Frontier Airlines, please
visit our website at www.FrontierAirlines.com.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995:
Statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts
may be forward-looking statements as that item is defined in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve
risks and uncertainties that could result in actual results differing
materially from expected results and represent the Company's expectations and
beliefs concerning future events based on information available to the Company
as of the date of this press release. The Company undertakes no obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or
circumstances that may arise after the date of this press release. Additional
information regarding risk factors that may affect future performance at the
Company are contained in the Company's SEC filings, including without
limitation, the Company's Form 10-K for its fiscal year ended March 31, 2006
and the Company's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2006.