USAIR CHAIRMAN Seth Schofield says that the carrier's profits performance for 1995 is on course to exceed even the most optimistic of expectations among financial analysts.
Speaking at a meeting of analysts in New York, Schofield confirmed that traffic figures have stayed strong throughout the fourth quarter of the year, while an overall upturn in US fares has helped USAir record a 13% rise in passenger yields. Schofield predicts that demand and yields will remain buoyant at least through the first quarter of 1996.
The optimism is in stark contrast to the gloom a year ago, when USAir appeared close to collapse, having racked up another $680 million in net losses, and with cash of only $450 million. Schofield says that he now expects to end the year with nearly $1 billion in cash and significant profits, making good on the projection made in mid-1995 that the airline would turn the corner by the year end
The improvement has been helped by the shift of the carrier's international gateways to Philadelphia and Boston. The move has resulted in "significant" improvement in yields and traffic, says Schofield.
Source: Flight International
