Net income was 10 cents a share, after a net loss of $42.4 million, or 25 cents, a year earlier, the New York-based company said in a statement today. Sales rose 42 percent to $633 million.
The results reflected JetBlue's steps to scale back capacity growth, cut fuel use and boost worker productivity to save $120 million annually by the end of 2007. JetBlue, the eighth-largest U.S. airline, added 14 percent more capacity last quarter, down from 21 percent a year earlier.
"The margins look pretty good," said Ray Neidl, a New York-based Calyon Securities Inc. analyst. "They have not only identified their problems, but they took actions to resolve their problems."
The earnings fell short of the 11 cents-a-share average of 14 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Shares of JetBlue traded as low as $13.91 today before regular trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. They rose 12 cents to $14.50 yesterday.
Spending for jet fuel, JetBlue's largest expense, rose 23 percent to $188 million as the average price paid per gallon rose 2.8 percent.
Passenger Traffic
JetBlue's traffic, or miles flown by paying passengers, rose 12.4 percent in the quarter, while its average fare per mile rose 25 percent. The airline's cost to fly each seat a mile, a measure of efficiency, rose 4.1 percent.
"We've made great progress since the beginning of 2006," Chief Executive Officer David Neeleman said in the statement.
The airline trimmed its growth plans twice last year, including delaying by four years the planned addition of 44 aircraft, after operating costs climbed.
As part of the growth slowdown, JetBlue sold five Airbus A320 jets after competition damped fares and fuel costs climbed, producing losses in the last quarter of 2005 and first quarter of 2006. The carrier expects to sell as many as five more jets this year, Chief Financial Officer John Harvey has said.
JetBlue intends to increase capacity by 11 percent to 14 percent this year, with a first-quarter gain of 14 percent to 16 percent. The first-quarter operating margin will be 2 percent to 4 percent based on fuel costs of $1.91 per gallon, JetBlue said.
Neeleman said last month that JetBlue has held talks with "multiple" foreign-based airlines on marketing agreements under which it would fly passengers across the U.S. after they arrive on international flights at the carrier's John F. Kennedy International Airport base in New York.
JetBlue also may be interested in buying East Coast routes shed by Delta Air Lines Inc. and US Airways Group Inc. in a possible merger, Neeleman said in December. JetBlue primarily would want flight slots at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and New York's LaGuardia Airport, he said.
--With reporting by John Hughes in Washington.
