BTS, a part of the Department?s Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that the 10 largest airlines, as ranked by total number of passengers carried in the first quarter, reported a second consecutive quarterly net loss after two quarterly profits as a group (Table 1). These 10 airlines carried 80.6 percent of U.S. airlines? scheduled service passengers in the first quarter of 2013.? See?Airline Financial Data Press Releases?for historic data.
In contrast to the Net Income reports (Tables 1, 1A), the top 10 airlines reported a 1.3 percent operating profit margin in the first quarter of 2013, up from a 0.7 percent profit margin in the first quarter of 2012 (Table 2).
BTS is reporting numbers for Net Income or Loss as well as for Operating Profit or Loss. These are two different measures of airline financial performance. Net Income or Loss may include non-operating income and expenses, nonrecurring items or income taxes. Operating Profit or Loss is calculated from operating revenues and expenses.
The 10 largest airlines achieved an operating profit margin – as a group – in each of the last eight quarters. Together, they posted a pre-tax profit of $438 million in the first quarter in contrast to a net loss of $433 million (Table 2).
Total?revenue?for all passenger airlines in the first-quarter of 2013 was $34.1 billion. All U.S. passenger airlines collected a total of $800 million in?baggage fees?and $685 million from?reservation change fees?from January through March 2013. Fees are included for calculations of Net Income, Operating Revenue and Operating Profit or Loss.
Baggage fees and reservation change fees are the only ancillary fees paid by passengers that are reported to BTS as separate items. Other fees, such as revenue from seating assignments and on-board sales of food, beverages, pillows, blankets, and entertainment are combined in different categories and cannot be identified separately.
Total operating expenses for all passenger airlines in the first-quarter of 2013 were $33.6 billion, of which $9.6 billion, or 28.6 percent, was used for fuel costs. See the?database?for expense and fuel data.
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