JetBlue has reported a second quarter adjusted pre-tax loss of $309 million. When special items are included, primarily payroll and benefit support under the U.S. Cares Act PSP extension, the carrier reported a net income of 64 million or $0.20 per diluted share.
On Tuesday (July 27, 2021), JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ: JBLU) reported their second quarter 2021 financial results for the period ending June 30, 2021. The carrier reported a net GAAP income of $64 million or $0.20 per diluted share on a year-over-year revenue increase of 597 percent to $1.5 billion. When one-time items are included, primarily payroll and benefit support under the U.S. Cares Act Payroll Support Program (PSP) extension, JetBlue reported a second quarter adjusted pre-tax loss of $309 million. On June 30, 2021, the airline had approximately $3.7 billion in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments.
In Tuesday’s announcement, JetBlue’s Chief Executive Officer, Robin Hayes, said,
“In the second quarter, we saw strong signs that consumer confidence and travel demand is returning, with second quarter revenue doubling compared to the first quarter driven by pent-up demand. As we turn to recovery, we continued to generate positive cash from operations in the second quarter, and we expect continued improvement in our operating performance as we progress towards a full recovery. We are creating a path to restore our earnings power to beyond 2019 levels and generate long-term value for our owners in the years ahead. Our attention is now squarely on rebuilding our margins and repairing our balance sheet.”
Also commenting on the airline’s second quarter results, JetBlue’s President and Chief Operating Officer, Joanna Geraghty, said,
“We are pleased to see further month-on-month improvement into the peak summer months, with demand momentum across all of our geographies. We ended the quarter with load factors in the mid-80s with June capacity largely back to pre-pandemic levels, compared to an average load factor in the mid-60s in the first quarter.
“For the third quarter of 2021, our planning assumption for revenue is a decline of between (4%) and (9%) year over two, another quarter of strong sequential improvement of approximately 20 points. We expect unit revenue to continue to improve on top of increasing capacity, with load factors in the mid-to-high 80s this summer. We have seen days with average load factors in the 90s.
“For the third quarter of 2021, our planning assumption is for capacity to be between flat to down (3%) year over two, given the strong sequential improvement in demand. Throughout the pandemic, we have been nimble in adjusting our capacity deployment to the prevailing demand environment. We’ll maintain this approach given the continued uncertainty on the course of the pandemic caused by variants.”
During the second quarter, JetBlue reduced their net debt by $1.2 billion to $0.9 billion, lower than pre-pandemic levels. At the end of the second quarter, the airline’s adjusted debt to capital was 55 percent. JetBlue also repaid $89 million in regularly scheduled debt and finance lease obligations during Q2, as well as a term loan of $722 million.
JetBlue is ‘New York’s Hometown Airline® and a leading carrier in Boston (BOS), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Los Angeles (LAX), Orlando (MCO) and San Juan (SJU). The airline carries guests to destinations across the U.S., Caribbean and Latin America. During summer 2021, JetBlue will launch new trans-Atlantic service to London. JetBlue Airways Corporation trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol JBLU. In pre-market trading Tuesday morning (July 27, 2021), shares in JetBlue were 2.99% lower at $15.59/share (9:28 AM EDT).
Source: JetBlue