Mexican airline Volaris posted a profit of $37 million as it continued to deal with fallout relating to the Pratt & Whitney engine inspections that have affected its Airbus A320-family fleet.
Revenue at the Mexico City-based ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) eased 4% to $813 million, while expenses also fell, by 15%, to $687 million, the company said on 23 October.
The declines were due to 14.4% lower capacity as measured in available seat miles a result of the Pratt & Whitney inspection recall.
“Volaris’ third quarter results demonstrate the resilience of our business model and our focus on execution as we have successfully navigated one year of Pratt & Whitney’s engine inspections,” says chief executive Enrique Beltranena. “We strategically managed capacity while providing great ULCC service to our customers and reinforcing our position as the preferred airline in our core markets.”
“Booking trends continue to show strength throughout the fall and the holiday high season, therefore we remain committed to achieving our updated full-year guidance,” he adds.
That guidance has the company’s capacity down about 13% over the full year. Previously, it had said capacity will be 14% lower.
In July, Beltranena said he was ”cautiously optimistic” that the engine issue would move toward a resolution, ”but we recognise that the engine’s time on wing remains a challenge”.
During the third quarter, Volaris added one A320neo aircraft to its fleet, bringing total aircraft in its all-Airbus narrowbody fleet to 137, up from 125 at the same time in 2023.
Load factor during the third quarter rose one percentage point to 87.1%.
