Alaska Air Group July Traffic, Capacity Improve, While Load Factor Was Flat

(RTTNews) - Scheduled passenger services provider Alaska Air Group, Inc. (ALK) reported Tuesday operational results for the month of July for its subsidiaries, Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. The group's combined traffic and capacity improved, while passenger load factor remained flat with last year.

The operational results include flights operated by Alaska and those under capacity purchase agreements, including Horizon, SkyWest and PenAir.

The Seattle, Washington-based airliner reported that combined Air Group traffic for the month of July, measured in revenue passenger miles, or RPMs, grew 7.0 percent to 2.96 billion from 2.77 billion in the same period last year.

Capacity, measured in available seat miles, or ASMs, also increased 7.0 percent to 3.34 billion from 3.12 billion in July 2013. However, the Group's load factor for July remained flat with last year at 88.6 percent.

Alaska Air Group carried 2.83 million revenue passengers in the month of July, up 7.8 percent from 2.62 million in the preceding year month.

For Alaska Airlines, traffic for the month improved 6.3 percent to 2.68 billion RPMs, and capacity also grew 6.1 percent to 3.01 billion ASMs from last year. Passenger load factor edged up 0.1 percentage points to 89.0 percent from last year's 88.9 percent.

Alaska Airlines carried 2.06 million revenue passengers in the month of July, up 6.9 percent from the preceding year month. It also reported that 84.0 percent of its flights arrived on time in July 2014, but edged down 0.5 percentage points from last year.

For Horizon Air, traffic increased 3.5 percent to 209 million RPMs, and capacity grew 6.3 percent to 253 million ASMs from a year ago. Meanwhile, passenger load factor was 82.6 percent, down 2.3 percentage points from last year.

Horizon Air carried 692 thousand revenue passengers in the month, up 6.6 percent from the preceding year month. Horizon Air also reported that 86.9 percent of its flights arrived on time, but declined 2.5 percentage points decline from last year.

For the year-to-date seven-month period, combined Air Group traffic grew 5.0 percent to 17.79 billion RPMs, and capacity also increased 5.2 percent to 20.68 billion ASMs from the same period last year. However, the Group's load factor for the period edged down 0.2 percentage points to 86.0 percent from last year.

Alaska Air Group carried 18.83 million revenue passengers during the seven-month period, up 5.5 percent from the preceding year period.

Separately, Alaska Airlines also announced the start of its annual fall sale, with prices as low as $59 one-way through August 12. The low fares will be applicable across its network including favorite destinations like Philadelphia, San Francisco and Maui, Hawaii.

In Tuesday's regular trading session, ALK is currently trading at $43.68, up $0.18 or 0.41% on a volume of 92,008 shares.