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One of the first things I thought of when my husband and I made a whirlwind move from St. Louis to Chicago this month is that I'm finally in a JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU) market and can see what the fuss is all about. I hear rumors of low fares, cushy seats, and personal media players for every seat. Apparently, things are looking good from inside the company as well. The low-cost carrier returned to the black in its latest third-quarter, posting net income of $23 million, or 12 cents per share. This figure compares with a year-ago loss of $500,000 (roughly 0 cents per share). The numbers were a nickel above Wall Street's consensus view of 7 cents per share, according to estimates compiled by Reuters.
Revenue rose 22% during the quarter to $765 million, falling just shy of analysts' expectations of $767 million. Traffic during the reporting period jumped 13% higher to 6.86 billion revenue passenger miles, and capacity rose 11%. Load factor -- the percentage of seats filled -- rose to 82% from 80.4% last year.
Looking forward, JBLU expects fourth-quarter capacity to increase between 10% and 12%, while full-year capacity is expected to build between 11% and 13%.
In other news, JBLU officials announced plans to close the company's Columbus, Ohio, and Nashville, Tennessee, operations, effective January 6. "After 12 months of service and a detailed review of traffic and revenue trends in these two cities, we have decided to redeploy our assets," chief executive Dave Barger said in a statement picked up by Dow Jones. So while you may be able to catch some George Jones tracks on JBLU's in-flight XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: XMSR) service, you won't be listening on your way to the Grand Ole Opry.
In early trading, JBLU shares are up 4.5%. The AMEX Airline Index has gained 1.3% already today.
Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.
Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage
In other news, JBLU officials announced plans to close the company's Columbus, Ohio, and Nashville, Tennessee, operations, effective January 6. "After 12 months of service and a detailed review of traffic and revenue trends in these two cities, we have decided to redeploy our assets," chief executive Dave Barger said in a statement picked up by Dow Jones. So while you may be able to catch some George Jones tracks on JBLU's in-flight XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: XMSR) service, you won't be listening on your way to the Grand Ole Opry.
In early trading, JBLU shares are up 4.5%. The AMEX Airline Index has gained 1.3% already today.
Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.
Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage
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