Another quaterly profit

[B717mech]

AirTran Holdings Reports Sixth Consecutive Quarterly Profit; Revenues Reach All-Time Record of $237 Million; Unit Costs Improve by 1.2%
October 22, 2003 05:40:00 AM ET


AirTran Holdings, Inc. AAI, the parent company of AirTran Airways, Inc., today announced its sixth consecutive quarter of profitability and net income of $19.6 million or $0.24 per diluted share. In the third quarter of 2002, AirTran Holdings earned $1.2 million or $0.02 per share

I have shortened the quote sorry it was so long. When you show 19.6 mil in profit it uses alot of paper hehe

[haze]

I think that says it all, and I mean ALL. There are no holes where the detractors can speculate, every aspect is covered and positive. Here's the AJC abbreviated version, AirTran beat the street estimates by $1.2 million and 2 cents a share:

[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 10/22/03 ]

Growth, cost-cutting help AirTran to another profitable quarter

By RUSSELL GRANTHAM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution


AirTran Airways reported third-quarter net income of $19.6 million, or 24 cents per share, its sixth profitable quarter, as the discount carrier continued its rapid growth and cost-cutting.

The Orlando-based airline, which has its hub in Atlanta, said revenues were up almost 30 percent compared to the year-earlier quarter, to $237 million.

Wall Street had projected that AirTran would report earnings of about $18 million, or 22 cents a share, for the third quarter, excluding one-time gains and charges.

AirTran added four Boeing 717s to its fleet during the quarter, to 68 717s, and increased capacity by 21 percent over the year-earlier quarter.

The carrier said its unit costs decreased 1.2 percent, to 8.1 cents for each seat flown one mile, from 8.2 cents a year earlier.

"We continue to benefit from the lower operating costs of our new Boeing 717 fleet," said Stan Gadek, AirTran's chief financial officer. "And with the introduction of the new Boeing 737s in June of next year, we expect to further reduce our operating costs moving forward."

This summer, AirTran announced an order for 10 additional 717s and up to 100 new Boeing 737s, which have a longer range that will allow AirTran to create a coast-to-coast network.