Spirit Airlines earnings (save) for the second quarter of 2022

Spirit Airlines It reported a loss in the second quarter as strong travel demand and higher prices were not enough to overcome rising costs.

Spirit reported the results less than two weeks after it was announced She agreed to sell herself to me JetBlue Airways for $3.8 billion, ending a months-long bidding war for Spirit between JetBlue and Frontier Airlines.

Florida-based Miramar posted a net loss of $52.4 million in the three months ended June 30. Revenues are up nearly 35% from pre-pandemic 2019 to nearly $1.37 billion. Expenses are up more than 66% compared to three years ago. The fuel bill has doubled.

Passengers were paying more for airfare, however, revenue per passenger per flight was up more than 24% from 2019 to $140.61, including fees. Spirit, like other discount companies, Offers Travelers have discounted fares and charges for additional functions such as carry-on baggage and seat selection.

In the current quarter, Spirit expects pre-tax margins between negative 1% and positive 1%, citing capacity constraints in Florida. The Federal Aviation Administration said this spring that it would add more air traffic controllers to deal with a increase in size in the state.

Spirit, JetBlue and other major carriers already have it They asked for their growth plans In an effort to avoid flight disruptions, which have been exacerbated this year by staff shortages.

However, Spirit said it expanded about 10% in flying in the second quarter compared to the same period in 2019. It plans to expand its schedule by 14% in the third quarter and 25% in the last three months of the year, compared to three months. Years ago.

The airline’s executives will face questions about how it will manage costs and travel demand for the rest of the year on a call with analysts scheduled for Wednesday at 8:30 a.m.