The group of regional carriers filing with the Department of Transportation, reported an operating profit margin of 6.3 percent, the network carrier group reported a 2.5 percent margin and the low-cost carriers reported a 2.3 percent profit margin, according to preliminary stats released by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. BTS also said the group of 21 selected airlines reported a system operating profit margin of 2.7 percent in the first quarter of 2007 for the first profitable January-to-March quarter since the first quarter of 2000. It was also the fourth consecutive profitable quarter for the group. The 21-carrier group consists of the seven largest network, low-cost and regional carriers based on operating revenue.
SkyWest Inc.'s (SKYW) SkyWest Airlines and ExpressJet Holdings Inc.'s (XJT) ExpressJet Airlines were the most profitable.
The top operating profit margins were reported by SkyWest Inc.’s Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Pinnacle Airlines (PNCL) and American Eagle Airlines . Northwest Airlines (NWA) reported the top profit margin of the network carriers. ATA Airlines, Mesa Airlines (MESA) and network carrier Alaska Airlines (ALK) reported the largest operating loss margins. The only other carriers to report operating loss margins were United Airlines (UAUA) and low-cost carriers Frontier Airlines (FRNT) and JetBlue Airways (JBLU).

The regional group’s profit margin of 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter was a 3.0 percentage point decrease from the 9.3 percent profit margin in the first quarter of 2006. The seven regional carriers reported a $149 million operating profit in the first quarter of 2007. Margins are being squeezed as network carriers continue to shift costs to their regional partners. Related Story
The network group’s profit margin of 2.5 percent in the first quarter was a 5.8 percentage point improvement from the -3.3 percent loss margin in the first quarter of 2006. The seven network carriers reported a combined operating profit of $559 million in the first quarter compared to an operating loss of $711 million in the first quarter of 2006.
The low-cost group’s profit margin of 2.3 percent in the first quarter was a 0.2 percentage point decrease from a 2.5 percent profit margin in the first quarter of 2006. The seven carriers reported a combined $109 million operating profit in the first quarter of 2007.
The regional carriers continue to report the highest unit revenues but their fourth quarter revenue of 14.9 cents per ASM was down 0.5 cents per ASM from the first quarter of 2006. The highest unit revenues were reported by regional carriers Comair, Atlantic Southeast and American Eagle. The lowest unit revenues were reported by low-cost carriers JetBlue, Spirit Airlines and ATA .

The regional carriers reported the highest unit costs in the first quarter at 14.0 cents per ASM. Network carriers’ unit costs were 13.1 cents per ASM followed by the low-cost carriers at 9.4 cents per ASM. Only the network group reported lower unit costs in the first quarter of 2007 than in the first quarter of 2006, reporting a decrease of 0.4 cents per ASM.
The regional airlines reported the highest average passenger yield at 20.3 cents per revenue passenger-mile (RPM). The regional carriers reported lower passenger yields than in the first quarter of 2006 while the network carriers at 12.5 cents per RPM and the low-cost carriers at 11.9 cents per RPM reported year-to-year yield gains.

 
The top passenger revenue yields were reported by regional carriers American Eagle, Comair and Atlantic Southeast. The lowest passenger revenue yields were reported by low-cost carriers JetBlue, Spirit and Frontier and network carrier United. US Airways reported the highest revenue yield of any network carrier.
Network carriers’ unit revenues were 13.5 cents per ASM followed by the low-cost carrier group at 9.6 cents per ASM. The network and low-cost groups reported higher unit revenues in the first quarter of 2007 compared to the first quarter of 2006 with the network airlines registering the biggest gains at 0.4 cents per ASM. The carriers with the highest unit costs were network airline US Airways and regional airlines Comair and American Eagle . The carriers with the lowest unit costs were low-cost carriers JetBlue, Southwest Airlines (LUV) and Spirit.