The top three operating profits for the first quarter, according to statistics released last week by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, were reported by regional carriers Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) and SkyWest Airlines and low-cost carrier Allegiant Airlines. ASA, American Eagle Airlines and Horizon spent the most for fuel per ASM while ExpressJet Airlines and Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways spent the least. Low-cost airlines Allegiant, AirTran Airways and Spirit Airlines and Atlantic Southeast spent the largest portion of their operating costs for fuel while ExpressJet and network airlines US Airways and Delta Air Lines spent the least.
The carriers with the highest unit costs were Horizon, Atlantic Southeast and American Eagle. The lowest unit costs were reported by low-cost carriers JetBlue, Allegiant and Southwest. US Airways reported the highest unit costs of any network airline. Network carriers reported unit costs of 15.3 cents per ASM in the first quarter of 2008 up from 13.1 cents per ASM in the first quarter of 2007.
The highest unit revenues were reported by regional carriers Atlantic Southeast, American Eagle and Horizon. The lowest unit revenues were reported by low-cost carriers Spirit, Southwest and JetBlue. US Airways and Delta reported the highest unit revenues of any network airline.
The top passenger revenue yields were reported by regional carriers Atlantic Southeast, American Eagle and Horizon while the lowest passenger revenue yields were reported by low-cost carriers Allegiant, Spirit and JetBlue. American Airlines reported the highest passenger yield of any network carrier.
The regional roster for BTS statistics changed as Horizon Air replaced Pinnacle Airlines as one of the top seven regional carriers because of updated revenue calculations. Comair failed to report financial data for the first quarter of 2008.

Network Carriers
The group of the seven network passenger airlines reported a combined operating loss of $1,324 million in the first quarter for the group’s largest first quarterly loss since the fourth quarter of 2005. In the first quarter of 2007, the seven network carriers’ operating profit was $559 million.
The carriers also reported a system operating loss margin of 5.2 percent in the first quarter of 2008 for the second consecutive quarterly loss after six consecutive profitable quarters, according to preliminary date reported last week by BTS.
The seven network carriers spent 29.4 percent of their operating expenses in the first quarter of 2008 on fuel, compared to 13.8 percent five years earlier in the first quarter of 2003. The network group’s loss margin of 5.2 percent in the first quarter was a 7.7 percentage point decline from the 2.5 percent profit margin in the first quarter of 2007.
The network carriers spent 4.50 cents per available seat-mile (ASM) for fuel in the first quarter of 2008, up from 1.65 cents per ASM in the first quarter of 2003.
The network carrier group unit revenues in the first quarter of 2008 were 14.6 cents per ASM compared to 13.5 cents in the first quarter of 2007.
The network airlines passenger yield was 13.1 cents per revenue passenger-mile (RPM) in the first quarter of 2008, up from 12.5 cents per RPM in the first quarter of 2007. Passenger revenue yield measures passenger revenues against total travel by dividing passenger revenues by RPMs.