US Airways Group August Consolidated Traffic, Capacity, Load Factor Rise

(RTTNews) - Airline operator US Airways Group, Inc. (LCC), which is in a merger with American Airlines' parent AMR Corp. (AAMRQ), reported Thursday operational results for the month of August. Consolidated traffic grew 5.6 percent, capacity was up 5.1 percent and load factor edged up 0.5 percentage points.

The company noted that it 'delivered phenomenal operating results throughout the summer,' despite the challenges created by high load factors and difficult weather conditions. The company added that it expects to continue the trend into the fall.

The airline said its preliminary on-time performance as reported to the U.S. Department of Transportation was 81.1 percent in August, with a completion factor of 99.4 percent.

"Our August consolidated (mainline and Express) passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) increased approximately five percent versus the same period last year," President Scott Kirby said in a statement.

Tempe, Arizona-based US Airways' consolidated August traffic, measured in revenue passenger miles or RPMs, grew 5.6 percent to 6.47 billion from the same month last year. American region traffic rose 4.9 percent, Latin region traffic increased 9.5 percent, and Atlantic region traffic improved 7.0 percent.

Consolidated capacity, measured in terms of available seat miles, or ASMs, grew 5.1 percent to 7.41 billion from August 2012. American region capacity increased 5.0 percent, Latin region capacity grew 9.5 percent, and Atlantic region capacity improved 3.8 percent.

Consolidated passenger load factor for the month of August reached 87.4 percent, up 0.5 percentage points from 86.9 percent in the year-ago month. American region edged down 0.2 percentage points, while Atlantic region was up 2.5 percentage points and Latin region edged up 0.1 percentage points.

Total enplanements in August grew 4.7 percent to 5.79 million from August last year. Enplanements for American region was up 5.1 percent, and also rose 5.1 percent for Atlantic region, while it edged down 0.9 percent for Latin region.

US Airways mainline August traffic was up 6.3 percent to 6.26 billion RPMs from the year-ago, and mainline capacity grew 5.6 percent to 7.13 billion ASMs from August 2012. Load factor was up 0.6 percentage points to 87.9 percent from last year.

Meanwhile, August traffic for US Airways Express, covering only American region and operated by Piedmont Airlines and PSA Airlines, decreased 10.5 percent to 207.640 million RPMs from the year-ago month. Capacity declined 6.7 percent to 277.93 million ASMs, and load factor also dropped 3.2 percentage points to 74.7 percent from the same month last year.

For the year-to-date eight-month period, US Airways' consolidated traffic grew 5.3 percent to 46.56 billion RPMs from the year-ago period, and consolidated capacity also increased 3.3 percent to 54.74 billion ASMs from the prior-year period. Consolidated load factor for the period improved 1.7 percentage point to 85.1 percent from the same period last year.

LCC closed Wednesday's regular trading session at $16.81, up $0.32 on a volume of 4.84 million shares.