Virgin America Losses Shrink, Revenue Up 46.9 Percent

Virgin America reported significantly improved financial results and unit costs, record-setting load factors and steady year-over-year growth in stage length-adjusted guest unit revenue.

The airline reported an $11.4 million operating loss on revenues of $135.9 million –an 81.6 percent improvement year over year. It also reported an overall loss of $64.4 million in the second quarter of 2008. Revenue in the second quarter of 2009 was up by 46.9 percent versus the second quarter of 2008.

Virgin America’s stage-length adjusted guest unit revenue was up 2.7 percent versus the second quarter of 2008. It reported growing load factors with an 85.3 percent overall load factor in the second quarter of 2009 –an eight-point improvement over the second quarter of 2008, despite a 42.9 percent increase in scheduled service capacity. Traffic increased by 57 percent year over year.

The airline reported the highest loads in its history, with an 85.1 percent load factor in April, 84.1 percent load factor in May, and 86.6 percent load factor in June. Unit costs (CASM) dropped by 35.6 percent, while non-fuel CASM dropped by 20.9 percent, as the airline was able to increase capacity at a very low marginal cost.