By Chase Hagl
Alaska Airlines Sees Strong Third Quarter Results
On Thursday, Alaska Airlines released its results for the third quarter ending Sept.30 of this year. The announcement comes with positive feedback, as the company showed great recovery from its last two years — a difficult time for the entire aviation industry.
The Seattle-based carrier set an airline record in terms of total quarterly revenue. Alaska Airlines brought in a total of $2.8 billion, as a result of strong pricing and an uptick in passenger air travel.
“I am incredibly proud of our entire team for the strong results they delivered in the third quarter, through the busiest travel season in two years,” stated Alaska CEO Ben Minicucci in a press release. “We ran an industry-leading operation with completion rates over 99% every month. We set a new revenue record and our double-digit pretax margin will likely lead the industry. Alaska and Horizon also ratified three major labor deals. This is a strong foundation that we look forward to building on in 2023.”
Alaska’s $2.8 billion in total revenue is up 45 percent from last year’s third-quarter results of $1.9 billion and 2019’s pre-pandemic reported revenue of $2.3 billion — a 20 percent difference.
The primary revenue maker for the airline is its passenger market, bringing in $2.6 billion of the total revenue, with cargo racking up $67 million in revenue and Mileage Plan and others bringing in the remaining $147 million.
During the three-month period, the airline carried 11.4 million passengers with a revenue per Available Seat Mile (RASM) of ¢17.30, up 28 percent from last year’s ¢13.50. These results can be attributed to Alaska’s, “strong pricing, a robust demand environment, and the execution of our commercial roadmap.”
The record quarter resulted in a net income of $40 million for the airline, or $0.31 per share. This is down $154 million from the carrier’s third-quarter income in 2021.
Airline’s Notable Moves
Alaska Airlines had many contributors to the success of the third quarter. A major contributor to the success of a company begins with its employees. On that note, the carrier was the first major carrier to ratify a new labor agreement with mainline pilots, ratified a pilot retention agreement in September with 700 Horizon Air pilots represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT). T
he carrier also ratified a two-year contract extension in August with nearly 5,700 Alaska Airlines employees represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). From an operation standpoint, Alaska Airlines achieved a 99 percent completion rate for both mainline and regional for the quarter, a large contributor to creating customers who keep coming back.
In the ongoing attempt to drive economic benefits through cost savings as well as continuing the transition to single fleets, Alaska retired six Airbus A320 aircraft and nine Bombardier Q400 aircraft during the quarter. In return, they received five Boeing 737-900 aircraft in the third quarter, bringing the total number of 737-900s in our mainline fleet to 33. Additionally, they began to retrofit their 737-800 fleet with new interiors.
Chase Hagl grew up in Twin Falls, Idaho. His love and passion for Aviation landed him in Orem, Utah where he obtained a B.S. in Aviation Management with a minor in Business Management from Utah Valley University. Chase currently works as a flight attendant in Charleston, SC and is also the primary Inflight ASAP ERC representative for startup airline, Breeze Airways. His experience in the aviation industry spans back four years, working in areas including agriculture application, customer service, maintenance, and flight ops. In his free time, Chase enjoys road biking, astronomy, and flying.
