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Aloha Air
earnings soar 64.6%

Despite the gain, the carrier
had a loss of $2 million for the
first nine months of 2000
due to soaring fuel prices

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By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Aloha Airlines had a third-quarter profit of $567,163, up 64.6 percent from the profit of $344,623 reported for the quarter of 1999, according to the airline's financial disclosure to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

However, the airline said that was not a good indicator of overall performance as the company's year-long results continue to be adversely affected by soaring fuel prices.

There was $10 million in additional expenses for fuel this year compared to the same time last year and that is the main reason Aloha had a net loss of $2 million through the first nine months of this year, said Stephanie Ackerman, an Aloha spokeswoman.

In the first nine months of 1999, Aloha had a profit of $2.5 million.

"All our long-range operations have been profitable since April," including the new daily Honolulu-Oakland and Maui-Oakland services the airline started in February as well as its flights from Hawaii to islands in the Pacific, Ackerman said.

The interisland business is lagging, however, and that is the core of the airline's business and has been underperforming all year, she said. The main culprit in the year-to-date red ink has been the soaring price of fuel, which has cost the airline $10 million more this year, she said.

"Fuel expenses have been increasing all year" and the airline has been paying about a million dollars a month more for fuel this year than it did last year, Ackerman said.

"Even though we have imposed fuel surcharges, it really is a game of catch-up," she said. By the time a fuel surcharge goes into effect people have already bought their tickets and are traveling at pre-surcharge prices, she said.

Also playing a part in this year's results was the September 1999 resumption of airport landing fees charged by the state. For the first eight months of last year, Aloha wasn't paying the fees, which in a usual year would have been more than $5 million. Third-quarter revenues were up 23.4 percent, to $73.9 million for the latest quarter compared to $59.9 million in the year-earlier period.

Nine-months revenues of $211.2 million this year were up 21.5 percent from revenues of $173.8 million in 1999.

Since it is not a publicly traded company, Aloha does not issue earnings statements to the general public. However, it is required to file a federal statement and that is available to the public.

The numbers reported do not include figures from the sister airline that serves smaller Hawaii airports, Aloha Island Air. Both are owned by privately held Aloha Airgroup Inc., whose corporate expenses are also not included in the federal reports.