NWA and Pan Am Both Profitable for Full Year

NWA Inc. and Pan Am Corp. said they made profits in 1985, but the parent of Pan American World Airways would have lost about $100 million without the sale of its Pacific division to UAL Corp., the parent of United Airlines. NWA, the parent company of Northwest Airlines, sustained a fourth-quarter loss.

Northwest and Pan Am both blamed industrywide fare wars and a relatively strong dollar for poor earnings in the final months of 1985.

Pan Am said it made $241.4 million in the three months ended Dec. 31. But that figure included a $341-million gain on the sale of the airline’s Pacific routes to United.

Fourth-quarter revenue totaled $908.6 million, compared to $892.2 million in the year-earlier quarter, Pan Am said.

For the year, Pan Am said it earned $51.8 million, compared to a loss of $206.8 million in 1984. Revenue fell to $3.48 billion last year from $3.68 billion in 1984.

Minneapolis-based NWA said it lost $2 million in the three months ended Dec. 31, compared to a profit of $304,000 in the same period a year earlier. Revenue totaled $631.2 million for the fourth quarter of 1985, compared to $574.4 million in the year-earlier period, the company said in a statement.

For the year, NWA said it earned $73.1 million, compared to $55.9 million in 1984. Revenue last year totaled $2.65 billion, compared to $2.44 billion in 1984.