Quote: WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Alaska Air Group Inc (ALK.N), the parent of low-cost carrier Alaska Airlines, reported what it called its best quarterly results in years on Thursday, with the help of sharply lower fuel prices.
Alaska said net income was $87.6 million, or $2.46 per share, compared with a net loss of $86.5 million, or $2.40 per share in the comparable period last year.
Excluding special items, net income was $83 million, or $2.33 per share, compared with $39.9 million, or $1.10 per share, in 2008.
Analysts on average had expected $2.26 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Chief Executive Bill Ayer, in a statement, called the third quarter results "our best quarterly financial performance in many years."
Wedgetail737 From United States of America, joined Aug 2003, 5527 posts, RR: 5 Reply 2, posted (3 years 7 months 2 days 18 hours ago) and read 2325 times:
Though I'm no employee (yet?), I can certainly agree with the first part of that. Great job AS/QX! Hopefully we'll continue to see aircraft allocated towards new and profitable ventures, and maybe, just maybe (hopefully), we'll see a leveling off in cutbacks, provided it makes good business sense.
I'd love to see more QX at BOI anyway, if nothing else than to improve my chances of them opening up a job so I could work for the company I've grown up around and love more than any other airline. (wink wink, nudge nudge)
EA CO AS From United States of America, joined Nov 2001, 12559 posts, RR: 64 Reply 4, posted (3 years 7 months 2 days 14 hours ago) and read 2059 times:
Great job by all my co-workers! This is outstanding news.
Quoting Airport (Reply 3): I'd love to see more QX at BOI anyway, if nothing else than to improve my chances of them opening up a job so I could work for the company I've grown up around and love more than any other airline. (wink wink, nudge nudge)
While we're not hiring there right now, AS has a reservations center in BOI as well. Hopefully we'll begin hiring there again once the economy improves.
"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem - government IS the problem." - Ronald Reagan
Wedgetail737 From United States of America, joined Aug 2003, 5527 posts, RR: 5 Reply 5, posted (3 years 7 months 2 days 14 hours ago) and read 2038 times:
It's great to see our hometown airline doing a great job! Congrats to all your AS and QX folks!
AA737-823 From United States of America, joined Mar 2000, 5340 posts, RR: 11 Reply 6, posted (3 years 7 months 2 days 11 hours ago) and read 1905 times:
Wait a minute... since when is AS a low-cost carrier?
They've got a first class cabin, several amenities, and they're WAY better to fly on that USCrapways.
Is this a misprint, or did AS do some sort of marketing game change wherein they suddenly branded themselves as a LoCo?
Living in Anchorage, you'd think I'd notice that...
EA CO AS From United States of America, joined Nov 2001, 12559 posts, RR: 64 Reply 8, posted (3 years 7 months 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 1830 times:
Quoting UAL757 (Reply 7): No, AS is NOT a LCC. They are more of a legacy than anything...
I wouldn't call AS a legacy carrier. They're more of a "hybrid" - an LCC with full-service roots.
"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem - government IS the problem." - Ronald Reagan
Hatbutton From United States of America, joined Mar 2005, 1451 posts, RR: 15 Reply 9, posted (3 years 7 months 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 1808 times:
Quoting EA CO AS (Reply 8): They're more of a "hybrid" - an LCC with full-service roots.
Funny you should mention that. Just read this interesting article the other day about AS being a hybrid of sorts.
While the legacy carriers and their new generation counterparts continue to seem more hybridized, Alaska exhibits some traits that separate it from either group. Time will tell if this varietal model works. For now, it seems to.
It is the only US network carrier that has no intercontinental reach and is the only US major that remains predominantly regional;
But like many of the LCCs, Alaska has a substantial reach into cross-border markets;
It is the only network carrier with no formal Alliance affiliation, although bilateral codeshares exist;
Despite absorbing some Alaskan carriers and one regional start-up (Jet America), Alaska's growth has been far more organic than the other network players, all of whom have swallowed a big fish or two in their history;
It operates from a hub which it dominates. But the hub is at the periphery of the national grid and, and while it has strength at other airports, Portland for instance, the vast majority of its flights begins or ends in Seattle;
The carrier is far more akin to the new entrants in terms of customer satisfaction than it is to its legacy peers;
Alaska has not been immune to the financial ups and downs that characterize almost all industry players. However, unlike many others, it is expected to show some profitability in 2009, quite a feat in the current environment;
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A quick overview of various fares revealed that Alaska prices in line with competition, even if that competitor is Southwest, though by imposing bag charges that are absent from Southwest, the trip cost for passengers will be higher for those with checked bags. Interestingly, in a search for nonstops between New York and Seattle, Alaska's fares were identical to Delta and American, all having the lowest, but this group undercut Continental by $20 and JetBlue by nearly $100. Making any definitive, all-inclusive statement about pricing is folly, but in the examples researched, Alaska always had some services priced equal to the lowest available fare. In no case was it the lowest.
So if the industry is moving towards hybrid business models, the Alaska Group demonstrates some ways in which that might come to pass. It seems to hold its own against varied competitors, please its customers, and has opted out of the “nationwide” model as well as alliances. Now if only Alaska could consistently be profitable.
Hatbutton From United States of America, joined Mar 2005, 1451 posts, RR: 15 Reply 11, posted (3 years 7 months 2 days 9 hours ago) and read 1736 times:
Quoting Rw717 (Reply 10): Just out of curiosity....Does anybody know the financials for AS and QX seperately. I was wondering which one was the bigger contributor.
Well actually looking at the financial statements it looks like AS had operating income of $124.8 million and QX had operating income of $19.1 million before taxes. Both of those numbers are after slight markups to account for gains on fuel hedging.
So when all is said and done after taxes it was roughly AS - $75 million and QX - $11.5 million. My numbers aren't horribly exact because there are other things in there but that is roughly what it is.
It's hard to put a value on QX though because of the feed they provide. Without QX, AS's number would surely be lower because of much less connecting traffic.
Jetboy319 From United States of America, joined Oct 2005, 270 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (3 years 7 months 2 days 8 hours ago) and read 1687 times:
While it is certainly interesting to know the difference in financial statements and who contributed what to the AAG bottom line, the fact remains that one cannot buy stock in AS and/or QX separately.
Wedgetail737 From United States of America, joined Aug 2003, 5527 posts, RR: 5 Reply 13, posted (3 years 7 months 2 days 5 hours ago) and read 1566 times:
Let's just hope that AS remains consistently profitable for the foreseeable future. Afterall, profit usually means more airplanes, more destinations, additional frequencies to existing destinations and additional city-pairs.
EA CO AS From United States of America, joined Nov 2001, 12559 posts, RR: 64 Reply 14, posted (3 years 7 months 1 day 15 hours ago) and read 1378 times:
EA CO AS From United States of America, joined Nov 2001, 12559 posts, RR: 64 Reply 17, posted (3 years 7 months 14 hours ago) and read 1107 times:
Quoting Wedgetail737 (Reply 15): Quoting EA CO AS (Reply 14):
AS is firmly committed to the 737-800.
Yeah...that's why I'm trying to get on the 737-700's because I suspect these airplanes will be going away in the not-too-distant future.
I wouldn't worry about that too much - AS tried to sell 4 of them this past year but quickly found there wasn't much of a market out there. Odds are the 73G subfleet will stick around at this point.
"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem - government IS the problem." - Ronald Reagan
Gmcc From United States of America, joined Apr 2006, 186 posts, RR: 0 Reply 18, posted (3 years 7 months 13 hours ago) and read 1073 times:
Quoting Wedgetail737 (Reply 15): Yeah...that's why I'm trying to get on the 737-700's
Fly in to SNA . It is one airport that AS schedules the 73G into on a regular basis. That also means SNA gets more than its fair share of WiFi flights. Any chance the might use some of the $1.2 billion is cash to expand WiFi anytime soon?
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From United States of America, joined Mar 2005, 1451 posts, 
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