America West FlightFund (Pre-2005 US Airways merger) - HP Announces Small Q2 Profit

The parent company of America West Airlines, the carrier recently engaged to merge with US Airways, on Thursday reported a 30 percent profit increase for the second quarter.

America West Holdings Corp. earned $13.9 million, or 29 cents per share, for the three months ended June 30 compared to earnings of $10.7 million, or 20 cents per share, for the same period in 2004.

Excluding special items, America West Holdings earned $20.9 million, or 41 cents per share, for the quarter.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial estimated the company would earn 13 cents per share, though the estimates ranged widely from a profit of 35 cents per share to a loss of 15 cents per share.

Revenue rose to $833.2 million from $694.2 million a year ago.

The earnings announcement Thursday followed a profitable first quarter in which America West Holdings enjoyed gains from buying fuel at a fixed price, protecting it from any cost spike.

SOURCE: yahoo.com

This is good news. ^ In anticipation of this release I was thinking to myself, if they can't make a profit with the planes as full as they've been, and fares so much higher than a year ago (though, still quite low), there's no hope. I'm happy that they're back on their profit roll. All they need is for jet fuel prices to come back out of the stratosphere and HP will be in solid shape.