ATW Daily News

Tax gain leads to big profit at Hawaiian

Wednesday October 21, 2009

Hawaiian Airlines parent Hawaiian Holdings reported a $30.7 million third-quarter profit compared to a $6 million surplus in the year-ago period thanks to lower fuel prices and a one-time tax benefit of $20 million. Revenue fell 10.1% year-over-year to $305.6 million while expenses were down 9.8% to $281.9 million. Operating income slipped 13.1% to $23.7 million. HA's RPMs rose 8.6% to 2.13 billion against a 2.7% lift in capacity to 2.51 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 4.6 points to 84.9%. Yield declined 20.7% to 12.65 cents, operating RASM fell 12.4% and CASM was down 12.3%. "Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, we continue to face better prospects than most of our competitors and we hope that the level of demand will strengthen more rapidly than the price of oil, allowing us to remain profitable," President and CEO Mark Dunkerley said. Nine-month net income of $81.7 million was double the $40.5 million earned in the year-ago period.

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