JetBlue Airways’ share price falls following third quarter release
JetBlue Airways' share price fell by over three percent in pre-market trading after announcing its third quarter results.
The company reported an operating income of $345m (£130m) in the third quarter, a one per cent increase from the same quarter in 2015.
The low-cost airline, the fifth largest domestic carrier in the US, mainly serves internal flights within America and revealed that it had increased the number of passengers carried by 7.7 per cent.
This was, however, at the expense of average fares dropping – they flopped six per cent to $158.
Operating costs increased by three per cent from last year, and stood at $42 million. Wages rose eight per cent to $421 million, along with a 15 per cent rise in maintenance and repairs.
Pre-tax incomes increased of 2.6 per cent to $330 million.
Earnings per share were broadly flat in comparison the previous year at $0.58 per share.
Read more: JetBlue could be about to add European routes
“I would like to thank our nearly 20,000 crew-members for going above and beyond expectations this quarter once again. They are truly JetBlue’s greatest asset and what makes our unique model so successful, said Robin Hayes, JetBlue’s president and chief exec.
I am particularly pleased with how they [our staff] handled Hurricane Matthew and helped our customers travel safely to their destination as fast as possible.
The last quarter saw the company pioneer the return of scheduled flights to Cuba, after a gap of more than 50 yeas, but it is currently facing opposition from the federal government and has had to delay some its plans.
At the time of writing, the shares had slightly recovered and were trading at 18.43 USD.