Virgin America Reports its First Full Year of Profitability

Virgin America finally has some good news.

Today the airline reported fourth quarter and full year 2013 results. Operating revenue for the full year rose 6.9% to $1.42 billion, and net income came in at $10.1 million, compared with a $145.4 million net loss in 2012.  This is the airlines’ first full year of profitability.

“2013 was a year of tremendous progress for Virgin America,” said David Cush, Virgin America’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We continued to reach more customers in more markets and now have a network presence from San Francisco and Los Angeles to most of the primary business centers in the U.S.”

The average fare in 2013 rose 4.3% to $203.70 , and revenue per seat mile climbed 8.3%. This increase was not built on the back of fees — Virgin ranked a modest 10th place among U.S. airlines for the first nine months of 2013 — but cost cutting and innovative on-board merchandising via in-flight entertainment systems.

“Revenue per available seat mile is a critical measure of success,” Cush said, “and our impressive performance in this area, coupled with our efficient cost structure and improvements to our capital structure, led to three consecutive profitable quarters and our first full year of net income.”

The airline added just one additional A320 aircraft in 2013. In 2012 the airline cut or suspended an order of 30 aircraft to be delivered between 2015 and 2016. The current fleet stands at 53 aircraft.

Although privately held, Virgin America announced these financial results as it must file with the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Full Release:

Airline Reports Fourth Quarter Net Income of $14.2 Million and Operating Margin of 6.6 Percent 2013 Net Income of $10.1 Million Marks First Full Year of Profitability with a $155.5 Million Improvement over 2012

San Francisco – March 26, 2014 – Virgin America today reports its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2013.

Fourth Quarter 2013 Financial Highlights

• Net Income: $14.2 million in net income, compared to a year ago quarterly loss of $25.0 million, an improvement of $39.1 million.
• Operating Revenue: Total operating revenue of $359.9 million, an increase of 2.7 percent from the fourth quarter of 2012.
• Revenue per Available Seat Mile (RASM): RASM increased 4.1 percent, to 11.79 cents. Both increased load factor (up 1.6 points to 78.5 percent) and yield (up 2.4 percent) contributed to the RASM improvement.
• Cost per Available Seat Mile (CASM): CASM excluding fuel costs remained the same year-over-year. Total CASM decreased 1.3 percent to 11.02 cents.
• Operating Income: $24 million in operating income, increased by $18.4 million year-over-year. Operating margin was 6.6 percent, an increase of 5.1 points from the fourth quarter of 2012.
• Capacity: Available seat miles (ASMs) decreased 1.3 percent during the fourth quarter. Stage length decreased 8.1 percent, to 1,426 miles.

Full Year 2013 Financial Highlights

• Net Income: 2013 net income of $10.1 million increased $155.5 million, from a loss of $145.4 million in 2012. 2013 was Virgin America’s first full year of profitability.
• Operating Revenue: Total operating revenue for 2013 was $1.425 billion, a $92 million increase and 6.9 percent improvement over 2012.
• RASM: Total RASM increased 9.3 percent over 2012, to 11.64 cents. Virgin America achieved the highest year-over-year percentage increase in RASM of all major U.S. airlines in 2013.
• CASM: Excluding fuel costs, CASM increased 3.3 percent, to 6.83 cents. This modest increase was largely driven by network changes that reduced aircraft utilization by 6.7 percent. Total CASM increased by 0.5 percent to 10.96 cents.
• Operating Income: $80.9 million, an increase of $112.6 million from 2012’s operating loss of $31.7 million. 2013 operating margin was 5.7 percent, an increase of 8.1 points over 2012.
• Capacity: Network changes led to a 2.2 percent decrease in ASMs for the full year. The average length of a flight (stage length) decreased by 5.9 percent, to 1,474 miles.
• 2013 Restructuring: The Company completed a debt restructuring in May 2013, eliminating more than $300 million of debt and accrued interest and reducing interest rates on a majority of the remaining debt.
• Liquidity: Year-end unrestricted cash balance was $155.7 million. Virgin America generated strong operating cash flow in 2013 of $51 million.

Fleet Plan

• 2013 Additions: The airline took delivery of one additional A320 aircraft in the first quarter of 2013, increasing the total operating fleet to 53 Airbus A320-Family aircraft.
• Future Deliveries: The airline’s total order with Airbus remains at 40 A320-Family aircraft, with five scheduled for delivery in the second half of 2015, five in the first half of 2016, and 30 scheduled for delivery starting in 2020.