PHOENIX (AP) -- America West Holdings Corp., whose flagship carrier is a major player on the West Coast, said Wednesday it swung to a profit in the latest first quarter from a year-ago loss.
Net income totaled $33.6 million, or 62 cents per share, for the January-March period versus a loss of $1.6 million, or 4 cents per share, a year ago.
Total operating revenue increased 11.3 percent to $722.6 million from $649.3 million last year.
The earnings report came after the chairman of US Airways Group Inc. said that his company was in talks about merging with America West in a move that could create a carrier that would be better able to compete with discount rivals.
US Airways Chairman David G. Bronner said in an interview Tuesday night that there are a number of obstacles to overcome before a deal could be struck. A spokesman for America West declined to discuss what he called a ''market rumor.''
America West's latest quarterly results include a gain of $60.5 million on fuel hedging transactions, charges of $800,000 related to the write-down of deferred aircraft rent payments associated with the return of one Boeing 737-200 aircraft and a $3.7 million loss on the sale and leaseback of one new Airbus 320 aircraft acquired during the first quarter 2005.
Excluding items, America West would have posted a loss of $10.8 million, or 30 cents per share, in the latest period.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were looking for the company to post a loss of 61 cents per share in the latest period.
Revenue passenger miles increased 6.9 percent to a record 5.7 billion on 0.7 percent fewer available seat miles, which totaled 7.3 billion. This resulted in a first-quarter load factor of 77.7 percent, an increase of 5.5 points from the same period last year.
Chairman and CEO Doug Parker stated, ''Although our first-quarter results continue to reflect the impact of high fuel prices, we are extremely pleased with our performance relative to our competitors. In particular, our nearly 8 percent increase in unit revenue during the first quarter was well in excess of the industry average and reflects growth in demand for our low-fare, high quality product.''
