US airline fundamentals weaken further in August
NEW YORK (ATWOnline.com) - The outlook for US airlines continues to darken, with both American Airlines and United Airlines sending warning flags about the weakening pricing environment (see individual reports below).
On Wednesday, the Air Transport Assn. released industry data (excluding Southwest) showing that system unit revenue fell 3.7% in Aug. compared to the year-ago period. This represented the deepest year-over-year decline since April 2003 at a time when SARS and the war in Iraq still raged.
Yield per RPM was down 3.5% compared to Aug. 2003, the biggest percentage decline in more than 20 months. Domestic unit revenue fell 6.5%, marking the fourth consecutive month of year-to-year drops, a trend that JP Morgan analyst Jamie Baker "sees no sign of reversing."
The picture was brighter in international operations. Atlantic RASM rose 5.3%, while Pacific RASM climbed 10.9%. Latin RASM, however, fell 8.3%.
NEW YORK (ATWOnline.com) - The outlook for US airlines continues to darken, with both American Airlines and United Airlines sending warning flags about the weakening pricing environment (see individual reports below).
On Wednesday, the Air Transport Assn. released industry data (excluding Southwest) showing that system unit revenue fell 3.7% in Aug. compared to the year-ago period. This represented the deepest year-over-year decline since April 2003 at a time when SARS and the war in Iraq still raged.
Yield per RPM was down 3.5% compared to Aug. 2003, the biggest percentage decline in more than 20 months. Domestic unit revenue fell 6.5%, marking the fourth consecutive month of year-to-year drops, a trend that JP Morgan analyst Jamie Baker "sees no sign of reversing."
The picture was brighter in international operations. Atlantic RASM rose 5.3%, while Pacific RASM climbed 10.9%. Latin RASM, however, fell 8.3%.
