Travelers hope that news about the airline industry appearing to be ready to report its first meaningful quarterly profit since 2007 will lessen pressure on the airlines to continue to increase ticket prices and leave cheap airplane tickets and cheap vacation packages in place. Eight on the nine largest U.S. airlines are anticipated to report second quarter profits.
American Airlines is the only major airlines not expected to report a profit. However, it is supposedly very close to breaking even for the quarter and some experts think it just might be able to report a very modest profit.
Total profit for U.S. carriers is estimated to come in at around $1.7 billion vs. a $1 billion loss a year ago for the same quarter.
Factors responsible for this turnaround include:
Business travel is filling planes at record levels and contributing to an increase in average ticket prices.
Moderate fuel prices
Improving U.S. economy
Reduced seat capacity has resulted in fewer sales needed to fill planes
Increased revenue from checked baggage and other fee driven services
Delta will be the first airline to report profits on Monday, 7/19, followed by United on Tuesday and AirTran, Allegiant, American, and US Airways on Wednesday. Other airlines will report their quarter profits the following week.
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