JetBlue Airways Corporation on Thursday announced strong quarterly profits, quadrupling earnings.
The New York City-based airline reported a net income for the third quarter of $59 million, or $0.18 per diluted share. This compares to JetBlue’s third quarter 2009 net income of $15 million, or $0.05 per diluted share.
JetBlue reported that third quarter revenue exceeded $1 billion for the first time, up 20.5 percent year-over-year. Revenue passenger miles for the third quarter increased 9.6% to 7.7 billion on an 8.5% increase in capacity, resulting in a third quarter load factor of 84.6%, an increase of 0.9 points year over year.
The company’s average fare climbed 11.6% to $141.79.
“Looking ahead, we are encouraged by strong revenue trends – particularly in our Boston and Caribbean markets. We expect this revenue momentum to continue into the fourth quarter,” said Ed Barnes, JetBlue’s CFO.
