Tag Archives: A319-132

Spirit Airlines announces a record third quarter net profit, increases 27.6% to $73.9 million

Spirit Airlines, Inc. (Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood) today (October 28) reported third quarter 2014 financial results:

Adjusted net income for the third quarter 2014 increased 27.6 percent to $73.9 million ($1.01 per diluted share) compared to $57.9 million ($0.79 per diluted share) for the third quarter 20131. GAAP net income for the third quarter 2014 was $67.0 million ($0.91 per diluted share) compared to $61.1 million ($0.84 per diluted share) in the third quarter 2013.

For the third quarter 2014, Spirit delivered a record adjusted pre-tax margin of 21.3 percent compared to 20.3 percent over the same period in 20131. On a GAAP basis, pre-tax margin for the third quarter 2014 was 19.3 percent compared to 21.4 percent in the third quarter 2013.

Spirit ended the third quarter 2014 with $588.5 million in unrestricted cash.

Spirit’s return on invested capital (before taxes and excluding special items) for the twelve months ended September 30, 2014 was 31.6 percent.

Revenue Performance

For the third quarter 2014, Spirit’s total operating revenue was $519.8 million, an increase of 13.8 percent compared to the third quarter 2013. The increase was primarily driven by our growth in flight volume and higher operating yields.

Total revenue per available seat mile (“RASM”) for the third quarter 2014 was 12.45 cents, a decrease of 0.8 percent compared to the third quarter 2013. A year-over-year increase in average stage length for the third quarter 2014 contributed 0.4 percentage points to the decline in RASM. In addition, average load factor for the third quarter 2014 declined 1.5 pts, in part due to increased margin accretive flying on non-peak travel days (Tuesday/Wednesday), contributing to the decrease in RASM.

Passenger flight segment (“PFS”) volume for the third quarter 2014 grew 11.2 percent year over year, and the Company’s total revenue per PFS for the third quarter 2014 increased 2.4 percent year over year to $138.54 driven by increases in both ticket and non-ticket revenue per PFS. Demand and pricing strength in the peak summer travel period drove the increase in ticket revenue per PFS and an increase in seat revenues was the primary driver of non-ticket per PFS.

Cost Performance

Total operating expenses for the third quarter 2014, excluding $10.4 million of special items4, increased 12.5 percent to $409.2 million on a capacity increase of 14.7 percent. Including special items, total operating expenses increased 16.9 percent year over year to $419.6 million.

Spirit reported third quarter 2014 cost per available seat mile excluding special items and fuel (“Adjusted CASM ex-fuel”)4 of 5.92 cents, an increase of 1.0 percent compared to the same period last year. Higher salary, wages, and benefits, landing fees and other rents, and depreciation and amortization per ASM were partially offset by lower passenger re-accommodation expense (recorded within Other operating expense) as a result of improved operational reliability.

During the third quarter 2014, the Company became aware of an underpayment of Federal Excise Tax (“FET”) for fuel purchases during the period between July 1, 2009 and August 31, 2014. The commencement of the period in which the Company underpaid FET coincided with a change in its fuel service provider that took place in July 2009. In its calculation for economic fuel price for the third quarter 2014, the Company excluded the prior years’ additional FET amount of $9.3 million as a special item but included the year-to-date 2014 additional FET amount of $2.1 million.

Selected Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Items

As of September 30, 2014, Spirit had $588.5 million in unrestricted cash and cash equivalents. For the nine months ended September 30, 2014, Spirit incurred capital expenditures of $26.3 million, paid $116.0 million in pre-delivery deposits for future deliveries of aircraft, net of refunds, and recorded an increase of $29.0 million in maintenance deposits, net of reimbursements.

Fleet

In the third quarter 2014, Spirit took delivery of one new Airbus A320 aircraft, ending the quarter with 58 aircraft in its fleet. Earlier in the month of October, the Company took delivery of a new A320 aircraft and has six more new A320 aircraft scheduled for delivery by year-end 2014.

Third Quarter 2014 and Other Current Highlights

Added/announced new service between (service start date):

– Fort Lauderdale and New Orleans (8/1/14)

– Boston and West Palm Beach (11/14/14)5

– Houston and New Orleans (8/1/14)

– Latrobe/Pittsburgh and Tampa (12/18/14)5

– Houston and Atlanta (8/1/14)

– Latrobe/Pittsburgh and Fort Myers (12/19/14)5

– Kansas City and Chicago (8/7/14)

– Denver and San Diego (1/5/15)

– Kansas City and Dallas/Fort Worth (8/7/14)

– Cleveland and Orlando (1/15/15)

– Kansas City and Detroit (8/7/14)

– Cleveland and Tampa (1/15/15)5

– Kansas City and Las Vegas (8/7/14)

– Cleveland and Fort Myers (1/15/15)5

– Kansas City and Houston (8/8/14)

– Cleveland and Fort Lauderdale (2/5/15)

– Fort Lauderdale and Houston (9/3/14)

– Cleveland and Dallas/Fort Worth (2/5/15)

– Houston and San Diego (9/3/14)

– Cleveland and Las Vegas (2/5/15)

– Detroit and Atlanta (10/24/14)

– Cleveland and Los Angeles (4/16/15)

– Chicago and Atlanta (10/24/14)

– Cleveland and Myrtle Beach (4/16/15)5

– Detroit and New Orleans (10/30/14

– Chicago and San Diego (4/16/15)

– Chicago and New Orleans (10/30/14)

– Chicago and Philadelphia (4/16/15)

Maintained its commitment to offer low fares to its valued customers; average ticket revenue per passenger flight segment for the third quarter 2014 was $84.50 with total revenue per passenger flight segment of $138.54.

Copyright Photo: Ken Petersen/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-132 N502NK (msn 2433) in the new canary yellow “Home of the Bare Fare” livery arrives in Las Vegas.

Spirit Airlines:

Air Serbia launches its new “The new wings of Europe” advertising campaign

Air Serbia (Belgrade) yesterday (October 27) launched a multi-channel advertising campaign to boost awareness of the airline and position Belgrade as a convenient European air transport hub. The airline continued;

“The campaign, which carries the end line: “Air‎ Serbia – The new wings of Europe”, also promotes Serbia and its capital city as a vibrant leisure destination, and is part of the next phase of growth for Serbia’s national airline beyond the Balkan region, including Europe and North America.

Chief Executive Officer of Air Serbia, Dane Kondić, said: “Air Serbia has already achieved strong growth in Serbia and the region. However, if we are to be truly successful with the implementation of our business plan, we need to strengthen our presence across Europe as we connect our network with those of our partners. There is no point in having the best product and service or most connected network, if people don’t know who you are, where you fly or what you stand for”.

The multi-media campaign will include television, print, outdoor billboards and a strong online component.

All the imagery for the campaign was shot on location in Serbia.

Mr Kondic said he was very happy with the campaign. “This campaign is as much about Serbia and Belgrade as it is about Air Serbia. As we proudly share the brand of Serbia, the campaign captures the best that we have to offer as an airline and as a country.It promotes the natural beauty of our country and the fresh, distinctive flavours of Serbian cuisine; highlights a city with rich history and a vibrant nightlife, and promotes Air Serbia as an airline that exemplifies service and quality. This campaign will attract more business to Air Serbia, and this will in turn support the growth of the airline leading to the creation of more jobs for Serbian nationals. I am very excited about the launch, knowing that by making Air Serbia successful, we are continuing to make a significant contribution to the economy of Serbia”, Mr Kondić said.

The campaign will initially air for a month in the Balkan region, Russia, Poland, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland and Austria with the goal of maximizing exposure for the Air Serbia brand and building awareness for its offer.”

Air Serbia:

Video: The new advertising campaign:

Spirit Airlines to start Denver-San Diego flights on January 6

Spirit Airlines (Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood) is again expanding its network. The carrier will add daily nonstop flight between Denver and San Diego starting on January 6, 2015 according to The Denver Post.

Spirit returned to Denver in 2012 and has been adding routes since then.

Copyright Photo: Ken Petersen/AirlinersGallery.com. Reflecting the new “Bare Fare” advertising campaign, Airbus A319-132 N502NK (msn 2433) arrives in Las Vegas in the bright new canary yellow 2014 color scheme.

Spirit Airlines:

Spirit Airlines has taken the “Bare Fare” concept (i.e. charging for all extras) to the extreme, even now charging for carry-ons. They provide this “Pro Tips” guidance to avoid some of the extra charges:

Spirit Airlines Aircraft Slide Show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-UnitedStates-3/Airlines-United-States3-QZ/Spirit-Airlines

Video: The Bare Fare explained by Spirit:

Spirit Airlines’ flight attendants vote down the tentative agreement

Spirit Airlines‘ (Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood) 1,400 flight attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), have voted down by 64% a tentative agreement with management for a new contract according to the Sun-Sentinel.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Spirit Airlines. Airbus A319-132 N534NK (msn 3395) is the first aircraft to be repainted in the new 2014 canary yellow livery.

Spirit Airlines:

Spirit Airlines is coming to Cleveland starting on January 15

Spirit Airlines (Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood) has announced Cleveland will be the 57th city to join its expanding route network, with new service to eight cities. Service starts on January 15, 2015 to three cities, with three more starting February 5, 2015, and two more on April 16, 2015.

Here are the new routes from CLE (start date and number of days per week):

Orlando starts January 15, 2015 Daily
Tampa* January 15, 2015 Three Days a Week
Fort Myers* January 15, 2015 Four Days a Week
Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood February 5, 2015 Daily
Dallas/Fort Worth February 5, 2015 Daily
Las Vegas February 5, 2015 Daily
Los Angeles April 16, 2015 Daily
Myrtle Beach** April 16, 2015 Daily

* Indicates winter seasonal service
** Indicates summer seasonal service

Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-132 N533NK (msn 3393) taxies to the runway at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) in the now old 2007 livery.

Spirit Airlines:

Expanding Route Map:

Spirit Airlines brings back the Yellowbird with its new bright yellow “Bare Fare” livery

Spirit Airlines (Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood) following Southwest Airlines (Dallas) and Frontier Airlines (2nd) (Denver) has introduced a new full-fuselage bright yellow color scheme based on its recently introduced “Bare Fare” advertising campaign. Previously Northeast Airlines (Boston) and Hughes Airwest (Phoenix) used the color yellow to grab attention. The first flight will be tomorrow as flight NK 259 from Atlantic City to the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood base. The first aircraft to be painted is Airbus A319-132 N534NK (msn 3395) (see below).

Spirit Airlines issued this statement:

The skies will now have a plane with a unique paint scheme that will be clearly identifiable even at 35,000 feet. Spirit Airlines unveiled its new design that matches the bright and bold branding the company announced last May.

The bright yellow plane with black trim began service with a flight from Atlantic City (ACY) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL).

“This new livery perfectly matches Spirit Airlines,” said Ben Baldanza Spirit’s President and CEO. “It’s radically different from other airlines, and it’s fun, just like we are. When you see this plane in the air – or on the ground – there will be no question that this is a Spirit plane.”

The new livery also matches Spirit Airlines low-cost business philosophy. The simple, two-color design is much more cost-effective than more complex, multi-colored designs. Additionally, since Spirit does not spend money on expensive advertising campaigns, the bold and bright design acts as a flying billboard and captures a lot of attention with no additional cost. These savings are passed on to customers with even lower fares.

Airbus A319 N534NK is the first of Spirit’s fleet to get the new design. Six more planes will receive the new livery in the next couple of months. New planes currently on order will come with the new design beginning next year. Spirit planes currently in service will keep their current designs until their regularly scheduled time frame to be repainted.

Update: Airbus A319-232 N534NK arrived at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport for the first time in the new look on September 17 (below).

Spirit Airlines Aircraft Slide Show:

Video: The painting of the first Airbus A319:

TAME is coming to Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood starting on October 17

TAME (Transportes Aereos Militares Ecuatorianos) (Linea Aerea del Ecuador) (Quito) which used to operate cargo flights to Miami in the past, is returning to South Florida. TAME will launch daily Quito-Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood passenger flights with Airbus A319s/A320s starting on October 17 per Airline Route. The daily flight will arrive at FLL at 0730 and depart at 0900 (local times).

In other news, TAME is also shifting its route to New York (JFK) from Guayaquil-New York to Quito-New York on October 20 per Airline Route. Quito will now become the jumping off point to both South Florida and New York.

Read the history of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport: CLICK HERE

TAME:

American-US Airways pilots agree on a protocol for pilot seniority integration, will it lead to a final list?

U.S. Airline Pilots Association (USAPA), representing the pilots of US Airways (Phoenix and Dallas/Fort Worth) (and the pilots of the former America West Airlines) (Phoenix), stated it has reached a tentative agreement on a protocol with the Allied Pilots Association (APA), the union representing the pilots of American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth). The tentative agreement lays out a process for the seniority integration of the two pilot groups according to The Street.

However according to article by Forbes, the previous bitter split between US Airways (East) pilots and America West (West) pilots at US Airways, could reemerge as work continues on a final seniority list. Will the new American Airlines inherit the seven-year old US Airways-America West pilot dispute? Forbes explores this question.

Read the full interesting article: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Jay Selman/AirlinersGallery.com. Freshly repainted with new American titles, US Airways’ Airbus A319-132 N838AW (msn 2615) painted in America West’s 2005 heritage livery, taxies to the gate at the Charlotte hub. N838AW symbolizes this hot button issue better than any other AA-US aircraft.

American Airlines (current):

American Airlines-US Airways:

US Airways:

America West Airlines:

Spirit Airlines to add two new routes from Chicago and Detroit to New Orleans

Spirit Airlines (Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood) is adding nonstop service to New Orleans from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport and Detroit on November 6.

This is in addition to Spirit’s new nonstop service to New Orleans from Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood and Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport that will begin on August 1, 2014. With the addition of these new routes, Spirit will operate flights nonstop from five cities to New Orleans.

Additionally Spirit is also adding new service from Chicago (O’Hare) to Atlanta that will begin on November 2, 2014. Additionally, Spirit’s expanded service to operate year-round from Chicago (O’Hare) to Baltimore/Washington will also begin on November 6, 2014. With the addition of these new routes, Spirit operates flights nonstop from Chicago to 21 cities.

Read the analysis on Spirit’s growth spurt by Bloomberg Businessweek: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Jay Selman/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-132 N527NK (msn 2978) departs from Las Vegas painted in the old black and silver version of the 2004 livery.

Spirit Airlines:

IAM members ratify three contracts with US Airways

US Airways (part of the American Airlines Group) (Phoenix and Dallas/Fort Worth) has issued this statement:

Mechanics and Related, Fleet Service, and Maintenance Training Specialists workgroups at US Airways, represented by the International Association of Machinists (IAM), ratified three collective bargaining agreements overing more than 11,000 employees. The agreements will remain in effect for the US Airways employees until a joint collective bargaining agreement covering the 30,000 employees of the new American Airlines has been reached.

“We are pleased we have reached these agreements,” said Doug Parker, chairman and CEO of American Airlines. “We want to thank the International Association of Machinists leadership and negotiators for their professionalism and hard work on behalf of their members. We would also like to express our appreciation to the National Mediation Board, Board Member Linda Puchala and Mediator Walter Darr for their assistance in reaching these agreements. These agreements will allow us to focus on the next steps for integrating our airlines, and we can now start the process of bringing these employee groups together with their co-workers from American through joint collective bargaining agreements.”

The ratification continues progress on labor agreements at American Airlines since the merger with US Airways closed on December 9, 2013. Negotiations for joint flight attendant and pilot agreements are underway, and processes are in place to ensure that joint collective bargaining agreements for those groups will be reached soon.

Copyright Photo: Tony Storck/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-132 N837AW (msn 2595) in the special NFL “Arizona Cardinals” livery arrives at Baltimore/Washington.

US Airways: