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JetBlue's profit drops sharply in fourth quarter as it felt Sandy's wrath


Skift Take

With its concentration in New York and Boston, JetBlue's bottom line inevitably was deeply impacted by Hurricane Sandy.

JetBlue saw a sharp drop in profits during the fourth quarter as it cancelled 1,714 flights in October and November due to Hurricane Sandy.

The airline reported today that its net income during the fourth quarter of 2012 was $1 million, a 95.7% decline from the $23 million in profits it achieved during the fourth quarter of 2011. The airline started during a confererence call with analysts that Hurricane Sandy had a $45 million revenue impact during the fourth quarter.

Total operating revenue in the fourth quarter of 2012 climbed 4.6% to more than $1 billion.

For the full year 2012, JetBlue posted net income of $128 million, a 48.8% jump. Revenue for 2012 increased 10.6% to nearly $5 billion.

"Although Hurricane Sandy negatively impacted fourth quarter results, 2012 was a very good year for JetBlue," said Dave Barger, JetBlue's CEO. "We further solidified our position as New York's Hometown Airline while continuing to pursue profitable growth opportunities in Boston and the Caribbean and Latin America, resulting in record revenue performance."

The airline forecasts that its capacity will increase 5.5% and 7.5% in the first quarter of 2013, and full-year 2013, respectively.

JetBlue's CASM [cost per available seat mile] in the first quarter of 2013 is forecast to rise 1% to 3% compared with the year-ago period. And CASM is expected to increase 1.5% to 3.5% for the full-year 2013.

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