US Airways Group July 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 Monday operational results for the month of July. Consolidated traffic grew 6.3 percent, capacity was up 4.7 percent and load factor improved 1.4 percentage points.

The company noted that its results were impacted by operational challenges created by high load factors and difficult summer weather conditions.

The airline said its preliminary on-time performance as reported to the U.S. Department of Transportation was 74.0 percent in July, with a completion factor of 98.8 percent.

"Our July 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 July traffic, measured in revenue passenger miles or RPMs, grew 6.3 percent to 6.63 billion from the same month last year. American region traffic rose 5.7 percent, Latin region traffic increased 10.9 percent, and Atlantic region traffic improved 6.6 percent.

Consolidated capacity, measured in terms of available seat miles, or ASMs, grew 4.7 percent to 7.57 billion from July 2012. American region capacity increased 4.4 percent, Latin region capacity grew 11.4 percent, and Atlantic region capacity improved 3.1 percent.

Consolidated passenger load factor for the month of July reached 87.6 percent, up 1.4 percentage points from 86.2 percent in the year-ago month. American region grew 1.1 percentage points, and Atlantic region was up 2.9 percentage points, while Latin region declined 0.5 percentage points.

Total enplanements in July grew 5.5 percent to 5.85 million from July last year. Enplanements for American region was up 5.7 percent, rose 1.9 percent for Latin region, and improved 5.8 percent for Atlantic region.

US Airways mainline July traffic was up 6.8 percent to 6.42 billion RPMs from the year-ago, and mainline capacity grew 5.1 percent to 7.29 billion ASMs from July 2012. Load factor was up 1.4 percentage points to 88.1 percent from last year.

Meanwhile, July traffic for US Airways Express, covering only American region and operated by Piedmont Airlines and PSA Airlines, decreased 7.5 percent to 205.44 million RPMs from the year-ago month. Capacity declined 6.0 percent to 276.40 million ASMs, and load factor also dropped 1.2 percentage points to 74.2 percent from the same month last year.

For the year-to-date seven-month period, US Airways' consolidated traffic grew 5.3 percent to 40.09 billion RPMs from the year-ago period, and consolidated capacity also increased 3.0 percent to 47.33 billion ASMs from the prior-year period. Consolidated load factor for the period improved 1.8 percentage point to 84.7 percent from the same period last year.

LCC closed Friday's regular trading session at $18.92, down $0.46 on a volume of 7.34 million shares.