The disparity between the fortunes of the major carriers and their regional partners again raised its head when the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics preliminary data on the industry’s second quarter results. Compared to the regional industry which posted a 2.5 percent profit margin and $73 million in profits, the six largest network airlines, as a group, reported an operating loss margin of 6.3 percent in the second quarter of 2008, a reversal from the second quarter of 2007 when seven network carriers reported a 9.2 percent profit margin. The six carriers lost $1.767 billion during the quarter compared to a profit of $2.406 billion in the year-ago period. While a 2.5 percent margin is low for the regional industry it illustrates the pressure expected on regional margins. Related Story

Comair and Atlantic Southeast were joined by Spirit Airlines as the top three operating profits. Network carriers American Airlines and US Airways and low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines reported the worst operating loss margins.

Fuel Expenses
The six reporting network carriers spent 5.15 cents per available seat-mile (ASM) for fuel in the second quarter of 2008, up from 1.46 cents per ASM in the second quarter of 2003.
Regional airlines Atlantic Southeast, Comair and American Eagle Airlines spent the most for fuel per ASM while regional airline ExpressJet Airlines and low-cost airlines Southwest Airlines and Spirit Airlines spent the least.
Low-cost airlines Air Tran Airways and JetBlue and regional airline Atlantic Southeast spent the largest portion of their operating costs while regional airline ExpressJet and network carriers US Airways and American spent the least.

Unit Costs/Pax Yield
The six reporting network carriers reported unit costs of 16.8 cents per ASM in the second quarter of 2008 up from 13.4 cents per ASM in the second quarter of 2007. American Eagle, Comair and Horizon each clocked in with the highest unit costs while Spirit, Southwest and JetBlue had the lowest. US Airways reported the highest unit costs of the reporting network airlines.
The three regionals also took in the highest passenger revenue yields, while the lowest were reported by Spirit, JetBlue and Frontier. Not surprisingly, American reported the highest passenger yield of any network carrier.

Unit Revenues
The six reporting network carriers' unit revenues in the second quarter of 2008 were 15.8 cents per ASM compared to 14.8 cents in the second quarter of 2007.
The highest unit revenues were reported by regional carriers American Eagle, Comair and Atlantic Southeast. The lowest unit revenues were reported by low-cost carriers Spirit, JetBlue and Air Tran. US Airways reported the highest unit revenues of any network airline.