BTS announces regional carriers report profit in Q1 2006
20 Jun '06
3 min read
The seven largest regional and the low-cost airline group reported domestic operating profit margins, an industry measure of profitability, while the seven network carriers reported a smaller loss during the first quarter of 2006 compared to the same period a year earlier, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation reported in a release of preliminary data.
The low-cost group's results for the first quarter of 2006 do not include ATA Airlines. The carrier delayed filing its first quarter financial report due to fresh start accounting issues related to the airline's emergence from bankruptcy protection earlier this year. BTS will release revised numbers following ATA's filing later this month.
BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that the group of regional carriers reported a domestic operating profit margin of 9.1 percent for the first quarter while a 4.2 percent loss margin was reported by the seven network carriers. Domestic operating margin measures profit or loss as a percentage of the airline's total domestic operating revenue.
The network group reported a loss margin improvement to 4.2 percent in the first quarter of 2006 from 9.9 percent in the first quarter of 2005. The operating loss margin for the network group improved 5.7 percentage points for a total operating loss of $0.6 billion in the first quarter .In the first quarter of 2005, the seven network carriers lost $1.4 billion.