JetBlue Reports Key Metric Fell 6% in December

JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU) said preliminary passenger revenue per available seat mile fell 6% during December from a year earlier and it expects the key airline industry metric will come in relatively flat for the fourth quarter.

The discount carrier last month had estimated that the measure, known as PRASM, could decline as much as 1% in the quarter.

JetBlue marks the fifth big U.S. airline to record weaker revenue performance for December. American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL), Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL), Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV), and Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK) have reported that unit revenue, or the amount taken in for each passenger flown a mile, was lower in December than a year earlier.

JetBlue also reduced its guidance for the average price per gallon of fuel it expects to record in the quarter, including hedging impacts, by a dime to $2.70.

For December, JetBlue said that passenger traffic increased 5.6% while capacity rose 7.2%. The percentage of seats filled--or load factor--declined 1.3 percentage points to 81.6%.

JetBlue Airways in October increased its third-quarter profit by 11% from a year earlier to $79 million, but the discount carrier missed Wall Street estimates.

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