Jan 3, 2008 12:21 pm US/Central
American Airlines: December Planes Were Less Full
DALLAS (AP) ―
American Airlines, the nation's largest carrier, said Thursday that domestic traffic slipped in December, and both American and Continental Airlines Inc. said their planes were less full than a year ago.
American said it boarded 7.9 million passengers in December, but its planes averaged 78.8 percent occupancy, down from 79.1 percent in December 2006.
Domestic traffic fell 4.1 percent, swamping American's effort to manage lighter demand by reducing capacity 2.6 percent. Rising international demand limited the overall traffic decline to 1 percent, said Fort Worth-based American, which is owned by AMR Corp.
Houston-based Continental said late Wednesday that its unit revenue rose between 5.5 and 6.5 percent in December on higher traffic. Unit revenue, or sales divided by the number of seats available and distance flown, is a key measurement in the airline industry.
Continental said traffic grew 1.9 percent, but that wasn't enough to make up for a percent increase in capacity, so average occupancy on flights fell to 78.7 percent from 79.5 percent a year ago.
Jamie Baker, an airline analyst for JPMorgan, said the unit revenue numbers were disappointing and showed that weakening demand reported by Delta Air Lines Inc., JetBlue Airways Corp. and US Airways Group Inc. was also affecting Continental.
Continental also raised its estimate for the price it paid for fuel in the fourth quarter, to $2.51 per gallon, 3 cents per gallon higher than before.
Baker said that slowing demand and higher fuel prices will result in Continental breaking even for the fourth quarter while other U.S. airlines will report losing money.
Shares of AMR rose 42 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $13.72, while Continental shares gained 5 cents, to $21.14 in midday trading.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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