Hawaiian Airlines Parent Reports $900,000 First Quarter Net Income

Hawaiian Airlines newest aircraft, the 294-seat Airbus A330-200, is seen flying above beautiful Hawaii. Hawaiian is launching daily, nonstop flights between Honolulu and Osaka, Japan, this July. Osaka will be the third Asia destination that Hawaiian has launched service to in recent months, following Seoul in January and Tokyo last November. (PRNewsFoto/Hawaiian Airlines, Chad Slattery)

By Sonia Isotov

The parent company of Hawaiian Airlines today reported a net income of $900,000 on a total operating  revenue of $365.6 million for the first three months of the year, a net income increase of $0.7 million over the same quarter last year.

In the first three months of this year, Hawaiian Holdings reported $0.9 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, on total operating revenue of $365.6 million, compared with net income of $0.2 million, or $0.00 per diluted share, on total operating revenue of $298.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2010.

Hawaiian Holdings also reported an operating loss of $4.9 million for the first three months of 2011, compared with operating income of $5.6 million in the prior year period.

“In the first quarter, the company did a good job of mitigating the effects of the rising cost of fuel and the tragedy in Japan. Fuel prices have climbed further since then, creating a substantial challenge for all airlines, including Hawaiian. We will continue our focus on controlling those costs that lie within our grasp. At the same time, we expect that strong demand in our core markets, the recovery we believe we will begin to see in Japan and the unequaled quality of service that our employees deliver will raise revenues and help offset some of the increase in fuel prices,” commented Mark Dunkerley, the Company’s president and chief executive officer, in a company statement today.

Other financial highlights from first quarter results statement included the following:

• Diluted net income per share of $0.02. Adjusted diluted net loss per share of $0.06 reflecting economic fuel expense
• Operating revenue increase of 22.5% to $365.6 million
• Passenger load factor increase of 0.5 points to 84.1%
• Passenger revenue per available seat mile increased 2.0% to 11.69 cents
• Cost per available seat mile excluding fuel decreased 3.1% to 9.38 cents
• Unrestricted cash and cash equivalents of $323.7 million at March 31, 2011