Virgin America Reports $29.5 Million First Quarter Operating Loss

Virgin America Reports $29.5 Million First Quarter Operating Loss

Virgin America has garnered a reputation of being one of the best and fastest growing of the new crop of domestic airlines, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t taking a financial hit from higher fuel prices just like U.S. legacy carriers. On June 20, the airline, which is nearly a quarter owned by Virgin Atlantic, reported a $29.5 million operating loss, largely due to significantly higher fuel prices as well as its continued expansion.

At the same time, Virgin America reported $201 million in revenues for the first quarter – a 37 percent jump in revenue compared to the first quarter of 2010. The airline said it recorded a 12 percent boost in revenue per available seat mile (RASM) year-over-year – a period in which other airlines’ RASM increased by 10 percent. During the quarter, Virgin America’s scheduled capacity also increased by 23 percent, compared to just 1 percent for the same period for the rest of the industry.

Virgin America said it continues to expand its fleet, growing from 28 aircraft in service in the first quarter of 2010 to a projected 52 aircraft by the second quarter of Despite that growth, it also recorded a 76 percent load factor. During the first quarter, the airline also added several new markets, including Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Cabos, Cancun and Orlando.

For the first quarter, Virgin America also achieved an 83.5 percent cumulative A-14 on-time ranking, which it said would place it second for on-time performance among all reporting U.S. carriers for the quarter.

The airline also outperformed the majority of the industry with a 98 percent completion factor, which would place the carrier third among all reporting U.S. carriers when compared to the DOT’s reportable data. The airline’s baggage handling rate for the first quarter was .99 mishandled baggage reports per 1000 guests, which would place it first among all reporting U.S. carriers for reliability in the first quarter, when compared to DOT’s reportable data.