JetBlue has reported a third quarter adjusted pre-tax loss of $50 million or ($0.12) per share on revenue of $1.97 billion. When one-time items are included, primarily payroll support under PSP3, the carrier reported Q3 GAAP pre-tax earnings of $190 million or $0.40 per share.
On Tuesday (October 26, 2021), JetBlue reported their third quarter financial results for the period ending September 30, 2021. Excluding one-time items, primarily payroll support under the third extension of the U.S. Cares ACT Payroll Support Program (PSP3), the carrier reported an adjusted pre-tax loss of 50 million or ($0.12) per share. With wage and benefit support and other special items are included, JetBlue reported Q3 GAAP pre-tax earnings of $190 million or $0.40 per diluted share, EBITDA of $140 million and net income of $130 million. At September 30, 2021, the airline had approximately $3.3 billion in unrestricted cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments, excluding a $550 million undrawn revolving credit facility.
In Tuesday’s announcement, JetBlue’s Chief Executive Officer, Robin Hayes, said,
“As we work through our annual planning process, our teams are setting solid goals for our network, commercial and cost initiatives, and capital allocation priorities. I could not be more proud of our team’s efforts, and I’m confident that we are setting JetBlue on a trajectory to restore our earnings power to beyond 2019 levels over the coming years, generating long-term value for all of our stakeholders. We believe that demand is once again poised to re-accelerate into the peak holiday periods and beyond as people continue to adjust to a new normal. We are marching towards a full recovery and a return to sustained profitability, with margin as our ‘north star’. I am a firm believer that our unique business model – low costs, low fares, and a superior product – positions JetBlue to thrive in the years ahead.”
Also commenting on the airline’s third quarter 2021 results, JetBlue’s President and Chief Operating Officer, Joanna Geraghty, said,
“I am very pleased with our exceptionally strong revenue performance in the third quarter. September took the brunt of the bookings softness associated with rising case counts tied to the Delta variant. That said, trends have stabilized and are improving. We expect robust revenue acceleration throughout the quarter as the holidays approach and demand continues to meaningfully improve.
“For the fourth quarter, we are planning for revenue to decline between (8%) and (13%) year over two. We expect troughs to be challenging, exacerbated by a slower business travel recovery, but the holidays are performing meaningfully better, and we took tactical capacity actions to better align with the demand environment. For the fourth quarter of 2021, our planning assumption is for capacity to decline between (4%) and (7%) year over two, given the seasonal pull-back in leisure demand and a corporate travel recovery that has been pushed back. As we move through the recovery, we’ll continue to be nimble in deploying capacity to areas of demand strength. Our network is one of our greatest assets, and we’ll continue to build relevance across our Focus Cities to serve our Customers and achieve long-term success.”
JetBlue’s third quarter cost per available seat mile (CASM) decreased 2.1% year-over-two while operating expenses per seat mile excluding fuel and special items (CASM-ex) increased 12.7 percent versus the third quarter of 2019. During the quarter, JetBlue repaid $74 million in regularly scheduled debt and finance lease obligations, as well as a $115 million U.S. Cares Act Loan and $105 million in bank loans. JetBlue ended the third quarter with adjusted debt to capital of 53 percent.
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, Latin America and London (Heathrow and Gatwick). JetBlue Airways Corporation trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol JBLU.
In trading Tuesday Morning (October 26, 2021), shares in JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ: JBLU) were 0.61% higher at $14.83/share (11:35 AM EDT).
Source: JetBlue/BusinessWire