NWA Says Income Jumped 53% to a Record High

NWA Inc., corporate parent of Northwest Airlines, reported that its net income surged 53% to a record $59.7 million in the third quarter.

In the like 1985 quarter, NWA reported net earnings of $39.0 million.

NWA also reported the highest operating income of any quarter in its history, $148.8 million.

The results include the acquisition of Republic Airlines, effective Aug. 12, but do not fully reflect the combined financial potential of Northwest, since flight schedules were not integrated until Oct. 1, said Steven G. Rothmeier, NWA chairman and chief executive officer.

Yield per revenue passenger mile increased 7.5% to 10.21 cents for the quarter, reversing a downward trend and accounting in part for the strong financial performance, NWA said. In addition, fuel prices declined 42.5% from the 1985 period.

Third-quarter 1986 results included two significant one-time items.

The first, a charge of $17.2 million, represents non-recurring costs associated with the integration of Northwest and Republic into a single airline. The second is a charge of $13.3 million relating to the method of handling investment tax credits on leased aircraft.

For the first nine months, NWA had net earnings of $67.2 million on revenue of $2.4 billion. This compares to net earnings of $75.1 million in the same 1985 period on revenue of $2.0 billion.