Spirit Airlines (NYSE: SAVE) reported second-quarter earnings Wednesday that beat analysts’ expectations as high travel demand increased revenue and cushioned its losses. The results also come amid news that the carrier has accepted a merger agreement with JetBlue.
The airline reported an earnings loss of USD0.30 per share, compared to the expected loss of USD0.48 a share. Revenue amounted to USD1.37 Billion, higher than analysts anticipated USD1.35 Billion.
“Top line revenue growth in the second quarter 2022 exceeded our expectations, driving a better-than-expected adjusted pre-tax margin despite much higher than anticipated fuel prices. On the operations side, following a rough start to the quarter, we implemented key operational changes and quickly saw meaningful improvements in our operational reliability and recoverability. We finished the quarter on a strong note with a 98.8 percent completion factor for June. And, our completion factor for July was 99.7 percent, including 15 days of 100 percent completion factor,” said Ted Christie, Spirit’s President, and Chief Executive Officer.
Amid capacity constraints in Florida, Spirit expects pretax margins between negative 1% and positive 1%. The Federal Aviation Administration had previously stated plans to add additional air traffic controllers to aid the surge within the state.
“The robust demand for leisure travel during the peak summer period resulted in busy airports and high load factors, and I want to thank our Team Members for staying focused on supporting each other and delivering a high-value experience for our Guests,” Christie added.