Chris Jasper/LONDON
The spiralling cost of aviation fuel prevented the USA's major carriers from improving their performances in 1999, although they reported largely positive results. Share disposal windfalls saved the net results of most, however.
American Airlines' parent AMR, the world's biggest airline group in terms of turnover, saw operating profit fall by 42%, to $1.16 billion for the year, yet turnover grew by 1.2%. At number two UAL, parent of United Airlines, turnover edged up by 2.7%, but operating profits fell. Fuel price rises were the main enemy; a barrel of oil was quoted at $15.43 in New York on 1 October, 1998, but a year later the price rose to $24.54.
Delta Air Lines also suffered, with operating profit for the last quarter down to $8 million on increased revenues and operating profit for the 12 months dipping. Continental Airlines saw fourth-quarter operating profit fall by more than a third to $85 million, with a 13.4% drop in the figure for the year. A gain on $297 million from share disposals gave it a net income of $455 million, with similar windfalls enjoyed across the sector.
Northwest Airlines showed a strong improvement for the quarter and the year, largely because 1998 figures suffered because of a pilot strike. Its load factor reached 74.6%, the highest in its history. Southwest Airlines was the other big airline to show improvements across most parameters.
Weather-associated problems were a factor in last quarter, while scaled-down operations associated with Y2K concerns also had an impact.
Source: Flight International
