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Monday, October 9, 2006

Regionals Lead In Second Quarter Yield

Regionals reported the highest domestic passenger average yield in the entire industry, at 18.9 cents per revenue passenger mile (RPM) during the second quarter, when profit margins were up for network, regional and low-cost carriers, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).

Domestic operating profit margins reached 7.9 percent in the second quarter, marking the best industry performance since the second quarter 2000. The results represented the first profits since the second quarter of 2005. LCCs reported a domestic profit margin of 10.6 percent while the regional carrier group clocked in a 7.9 percent margin, close to the 7.2 percent reported by legacy carriers, up 9.4 percent from the year-ago period.

Atlantic Southeast reported the top profit margin for its group, joined by Northwest (NWACQ) in the legacy group and Southwest in the LCC group. The regional group's profit market was down 2.8 percentage points from the year-ago quarter. The seven regionals reported $193 million operating profits for the second quarter. Network operators reported a combined domestic operating profit of $1.3 billion in the quarter, the first for the group since the beginning of 2003, compared to a $400 million operating loss in the year-ago period. Meanwhile, seven LCCs' profit margins grew 5.3 percentage points, with a combined $541 million domestic operating profit.

The networks reported the highest unit revenues in the second quarter at 15.8 cents per available seat mile (ASMs), followed by regionals at 15.3 cents per ASM, and LCCs at 10.8 cents per ASM. Networks also reported the highest unit costs at 14.6 cents per ASM, with regionals at 14.1 cents and LCCs at 9.7 cents. Both regional and low-cost airlines had a year-over-year increase in unit costs of 1.4 cents per ASM, compared to one cent higher for the network carriers.

Yield for the network carriers was 13.1 cents per RPM and for LCCs, 12.1 cents. American Eagle reported the top revenue yield along with Comair and ASA.

Quarterly Domestic Operating profit/loss margin (in percent) Regional Carriers Ranked by 2nd Quarter 2006 Margin (Operating Profit/Loss as Percent of Total Operating Revenue)
2Q 2006 Rank Regional Carriers 2nd Quarter 2005 (%) 3rd Quarter 2005 (%) 4th Quarter 2005 (%) 1st Quarter 2006 (%) 2nd Quarter 2006 (%) 2nd Quarter Operating Profit/Loss $(Millions)
1
Atlantic Southeast
10.2
9.6
13.1
13.6
13.2
43
2
SkyWest
11.6
11.1
10.3
9.4
10.0
47
3
Pinnacle
10.7
-14.6
7.7
10.4
9.5
20
4
American Eagle
14.3
12.3
10.3
11.0
8.1
39
5
Express Jet
9.2
8.5
9.0
8.1
7.3
28
6
Mesa
13.9
13.0
10.3
8.9
4.1
12
7
Comair 4.4
2.6
-0.9
1.5
2.1
6


7-Carrier Total
10.7
7.4
8.7
9.1
7.9
193

 

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics; Form 41, Schedule P1.2

Airline Domestic Unit Revenue (Cents Per Mile) Regional Carriers Ranked by 2nd Quarter 2006 Domestic Unit Revenue (Domestic Operating Revenue Per Available Seat Mile)
2Q 2006 Rank Regional Carriers 2nd Quarter 2005 3rd Quarter 2005 4th Quarter 2005 1st Quarter 2006 2nd Quarter 2006 2nd Quarter Operating Revenue $(Millions)
1 Comair
14.8
15.0
15.3
16.7
16.7
303
2 American Eagle
16.6
16.7
17.2
16.8
16.6
475
3 Atlantic Southeast
13.7
14.7
15.9
16.2
16.3
326
4 SkyWest
15.0
15.4
15.9
15.9
15.7
465
5 Pinnacle
14.3
14.1
15.0
15.4
14.8
205
6 Mesa
12.2
12.3
12.7
14.0
14.7
289
7 Express Jet
13.0
12.8
13.2
13.3
12.6
382

7-Carrier Total
14.3
14.5
15.0
15.4
15.3
2,443

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics; Form 41, Schedule P1.2. T100; T2 Data

Airline Domestic Unit Costs (Cents per Mile) Regionals Ranked by 2nd Quarter 2006 Domestic Unit Costs (Domestic Operating Expenses per Available Seat Mile in cents)
2Q 2006 Rank Regional Carriers 2nd Quarter 2005 3rd Quarter 2005 4th Quarter 2005 1st Quarter 2006 2nd Quarter 2006 2nd Quarter Operating Expenses $(Millions)
1 Comair
114.1
14.7
15.4
16.4
16.4
297
2 American Eagle
14.2
14.6
15.4
15.0
15.3
436
3 Atlantic Southeast
12.3
13.3
13.8
14.0
14.2
283
4 SkyWest
13.3
13.7
14.3
14.4
14.1
418
5 Mesa
10.5
10.7
11.4
12.7
14.1
277
6 Pinnacle
12.8
16.2
13.9
13.8
13.4
185
7 Express Jet
11.8
11.7
12.1
12.2
11.7
354

7-Carrier Total
12.7
13.4
13.7
14.0
14.1
$2,250

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics; Form 41; Schedule P1.2. T100; T2 Data.

Domestic Passenger Revenue Yield (Cents per Mile) Regionals Ranked by 2nd Quarter 2006 Domestic Revenue Yield (Domestic Passenger Revenue per Revenue Passenger Mile in cents)
2Q 2006 Rank Regional Carriers 2nd Quarter 2005 3rd Quarter 2005 4th Quarter 2005 1st Quarter 2006 2nd Quarter 2006 2nd Quarter Passenger Revenue $(Millions)
1 Comair
20.7
21.7
22.2
23.7
21.8
303
2 American Eagle
22.6
23.0
23.4
23.8
21.2
474
3 Atlantic Southeast
19.0
19.7
21.3
20.7
20.4
326
4 SkyWest
19.7
19.8
20.7
20.0
19.0
459
5 Pinnacle
19.4
18.8
19.7
21.1
18.2
203
6 Mesa
16.8
17.9
18.6
18.9
17.9
285
7 Express Jet
17.2
16.6
17.3
17.6
15.4
381

7-Carrier Total
19.4
19.6
20.4
20.6
18.9
2,430

 

Source: Form 41; Schedule P1.2. T100; T2 Data.

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