JetBlue Airlines posts profit for the first time since the pandemic’s start. The airline has been growing steadily as demand for air travel made a comeback in the wake of the pandemic. This demand has contributed to the increase in the airline’s revenue. The revenues reported are a record-high for the low-cost carrier. The airline has regained profitability despite the increased operating costs that reduced its profit margins significantly.
JetBlue Airlines Q3 report
The airline’s report looked promising since it ended Q3 of 2022 with $2.3 billion in unrestricted cash, short-term investments, long-term marketable securities, and cash equivalents. This sums up around 28% of their 2019 revenue. JetBlue recorded a 53% debt-to-capital ratio at the end of September 2022. Their revenue per available seat during this period increased by 23.4%. The increase in revenues was attributed to the high demand for air transit and increased operating costs passed along to the clients.
Travel restrictions have eased, contributing to the high demand for air travel. JetBlue has seen increased demand for leisure travel and visiting friends and relatives travel (VFR). The downside is that air travellers will have to dig deeper into their pockets for their trip since air travel costs have risen by a considerable margin in the past three years.
Operating costs have increased significantly as quickly as demand has, due to the rise of fuel prices and shortages of other essential resources. JetBlue Airlines indicated a 32.4% increase in their operating expenses from 2020. Fuel has been the highest cost the airline has been incurring. The price of fuel has increased by 86% in three years. The airline discovered the cost per gallon of fuel was $2.06 in 2019, and now it is $3.84.
JetBlue’s CEO, Robin Hayes, was happy to share the airline’s achievement for its profitable quarter of 2022. In a meeting, he stated:
“For the third quarter, we reached a significant milestone in our recovery as we generated our first quarterly adjusted profit since the start of the pandemic. Looking ahead, we expect our profitability to carry through to another solid quarter o mid-single-digit pre-tax margins in the fourth quarter, and we’ll look to expand on that further in 2023 as we continue to restore our earning power.”
The way forward
JetBlue Airline’s large equity sum and increased revenues give them a chance to continue with planned expansion. This has come into reality due to an increase in capacity. The airline had a 0.5% increase in capacity over the third quarter of 2019. JetBlue expects this capacity to continue to rise till the end of the year as it boosts its services and purchases new planes.
