martin33

February was another tough month. About the best thing that could be said is it wasn't *as* catastrophic as January: operating losses narrowed from $134 million to $85 million. The improvement had two sources: lower labor costs ($18m) and better revenue ($28m). Fuel and other non-labor costs basically did not budge.

The most troublesome element remains liquidity. Unrestricted cash plunged another $137m in February, to a precarious $406m. That's extremely dangerous. Also, the working capital deficit has widened to $1.25 billion.

Income Statements for February:
Operating Revenues
Passenger transportation $443,460
Cargo and freight 7,567
Other 54,973
Total Operating Revenues 506,000

Operating Expenses
Personnel costs 156,440
Aviation fuel 114,405
US Airways Express capacity purchases 62,403
Aircraft rent 36,089
Other rent and landing fees 46,763
Selling expenses 39,398
Aircraft maintenance 29,163
Depreciation and amortization 18,764
Other 88,239
Total Operating Expenses 591,664
Operating Loss (85,664)


and for comparison, January was:

Operating Revenues
Passenger transportation $421,383
Cargo and freight 5,472
Other 51,496

Total Operating Revenues 478,351

Operating Expenses
Personnel costs 174,241
Aviation fuel 113,935
US Airways Express capacity purchases 66,363
Aircraft rent 39,267
Other rent and landing fees 32,282
Selling expenses 32,540
Aircraft maintenance 27,322
Depreciation and amortization 18,448
Other 108,337
Total Operating Expenses 612,735

Operating Loss (134,384)

BearX220

Hideous. At that burn rate, US has about 90 days' liquidity left in the till. It's no wonder they're shopping assets. Despite the cautionary talk in their last BK filing, it looks like a "burn the furniture" play is the only survival tactic left.

OverpaidSlacker

february was also three days shorter than january.

abeflyer

US loses $85mil on operations during same month as UA loses $199mil on operations. Rest of legacy carriers have yet to report.

Machinists/CSR were still on payroll and the effects of their leaving won't be fellt fully until June. Revenue starts to increase now through then as well, so it seems like they will squeak through tighting the belts unless they do something stupid to turn off their best customers like closing clubs on the west coast. Oh, they did that didn't they? Well, all bets are off.

martin33

For February the operating loss comparison (not including interest and restructuring) is $85m US vs $179 UA. In Jan it was $134m US vs $150m UA. These can be combined with the monthly traffic reports to figure out unit revenue (passenger revenue per available seat mile) and cost; will give that a go later if time permits. The other legacies, we have to wait another month for a financial peek as they don't report monthly earnings, just quarterly.

I agree that choosing NOW of all times for a high-profile move (closing crucial clubs) angering high-dollar flyers is just stupefying.

Bear96

Yeah -- better to just stay frozen and do nothing with a "deer in the headlights" look as things continue to crumble all around.

martin33

oops, it was actually considerably more grave. The $406m figure includes $75m of the Air Wisconsin money, which was received on February 28th. [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05090/480273.stm] So just before that point unrestricted cash had dwindled to $331 m, which is just a hair (2%) over the level where they'd be in breach of the ATSB covenants.