Low-Cost Carriers Wary Of Weak Traffic
Andrew Compart andrew_compart@aviationweek.com
Southwest's traffic and load factor increased in April, but the airline cautions it still expects its unit revenue to take a bigger hit in the second quarter than in the first.
Southwest traffic increased 4.1% year-over-year in April in spite of a 1.9% cut in capacity, resulting in a 4.4-point increase in load factor to 77%. The airline also estimated that passenger unit revenue in April was "in line with last year, as expected."
But Easter fell in April this year instead of March, skewing year-over-year comparisons for all of the airlines. In releasing its traffic results, Southwest cautioned that "current revenue and booking trends continue to be adversely impacted by the weak economic environment and now also by concerns over the recent H1N1 swine flu outbreak." The airline said it now expects a decline in passenger unit revenue for the second quarter that exceeds its 2.8% decline in the first quarter.
JetBlue, another low-cost carrier releasing its monthly figures May 6, reported a 2.7% decline in traffic. But with a 4% cut in capacity its load factor still rose 1.1 point to 80.6%, and JetBlue said its unit revenue for the month increased 5% year-over-year.
The carriers' figures followed a report earlier in the week from low-cost carrier AirTran that its traffic increased 0.3% in spite of a 7.9% cut in capacity, for a 6.5-point increase in load factor to 80.4%. Low-cost carrier Allegiant also reported this week that its traffic increased 34% on a 29.8% increase in capacity, for a 2.8-point increase in load factor to 90.3%.
Photo credit: Embraer
