2 More Airlines Post Big Losses

Two more airlines, Delta and America West, on Thursday joined most other U.S. carriers in posting sizable fourth-quarter losses in the face of what Delta Chairman Leo Mullin called “challenges unlike any we’ve seen in the history of aviation.”

Delta Air Lines Inc., the nation’s third-largest airline, lost $486million, or $3.97 per diluted share, after excluding one-time items such as the cash Delta received as its portion of the industry’s federal bailout. The results were a tad worse than the $3.89-per-share loss expected by Wall Street analysts, as surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call.

A year earlier, Delta earned $79million, or 60 cents a share. Its fourth-quarter revenue tumbled to $2.9billion from $4billion a year earlier.

Hammered by the drop in passenger traffic after Sept. 11 and the economic recession, the airline industry has been hit with massive losses in recent months.

Atlanta-based Delta, with many routes concentrated in the East, was particularly hard-hit after the attacks in New York and at the Pentagon.

For all of 2001, the industry is poised to lose more than $6 billion (excluding the bailout money). United Airlines’ parent, UAL Corp., will be the last major airline to report its fourth-quarter results when it makes its announcement today.1

America West Holdings Corp., based in Phoenix, said its fourth-quarter loss (excluding one-time gains and charges) was $89 million, or $2.64 a share, which matched analysts’ forecasts.

America West so far is the only airline to receive a federal loan guarantee, which was another component of the bailout package. Most airlines have not yet applied for that aid.

In other airline news, Alaska Air Group Inc. said its board elected William Ayer as chief executive of Alaska Airlines to succeed John F. Kelly, 57, who remains chairman and chief executive of the carrier’s Seattle-based parent company.

Ayer, 47, currently is Alaska’s president, and the company said the promotion was one of several personnel changes that were part of a long-term executive-succession plan for both Alaska Airlines and the company’s other unit, the regional airline Horizon Air.

Also, Switzerland’s national airline was renamed Swiss Air Lines after its predecessor, Swissair, collapsed from financial problems last fall. The new airline will fly under the name Swiss and take over Swissair’s network--which includes Los Angeles--on April 1.

Delta’s stock closed Thursday at $31.60 a share, up 3 cents, while America West slipped 2 cents to $3.96 and Alaska Air fell 23 cents to $30.66 a share, all on the New York Stock Exchange.