JetBlue announces that traffic fell 7.1% and capacity fell 5.1% in January 2009 compared to January 2008.
JetBlue pilots fail to get enough votes to form a union after a 3-month attempt. Only 33% of the pilots voted in favor of the union, which needed over 50% approval to form. http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/090203/jetblue_union.html?.v=3
Crude oil prices dropped $1.58 on 12/24 to $37.40/barrel signaling improved profitability for airlines.
JBLU's November traffic declined 7.8% following an approximate 8% drop in revenue passenger miles. Additionally, JBLU's capacity declined by 6.3% during the month.
Citing weakening consumer demand for travel, JBLU reduced its 2008 growth estimates to 2%, from 3% previously. Additonally, the company believes that it will post negative growth numbers in Q4 2008 for the first time in the company's history.
Traffic dropped 5.4% in October 2008, following an 11.1% decrease in capacity from a year earlier. However, the company's load factor reached 80.7%, a 4.8% increase from October 2007. This contributed to JBLU's 28% increase in revenue per available seat mile in October.
JBLU reported a 17.9% increase in revenue during the quarter, which reached $902 million. However, the company's CASM increased 31.5% to 10.5 cents, driven primarily by a 60.8% increase in its fuel prices. As a result, JBLU's operating margin dropped to 2.4% in Q3 2008, down from 10.3% a year earlier.
JBLU's traffic in September 2008 decreased 4.8% from a year earlier, sparked by a capacity or ASM decrease by 11.5%.
JetBlue made a serious step in its already announced plans to offer internet access in its planes.
JBLU reported revenue of $816 million in Q1 2008, better than the predicted $785.9 million. However, it announced that it believes its Q2 operating margin will decrease to 1%-3% because of higher fuel prices, which will be about $3.09 per gallon.
JetBlue reports a mild loss for the fourth quarter. It beat analyst estimates, but validated industry bears stance on high fuel costs wiping out all potential profits.
