Aloha Air posts $10M quarterly loss

The carrier cites higher fuel costs and competition from go!

Aloha Airlines lost nearly $10 million in the third quarter -- more than four times its loss from a year earlier -- as an interisland fare war helped drag down revenue 13 percent.

The new financial loss piles on top of the $20.3 million Aloha lost in the first quarter of this year and the $2.8 million it lost in the second quarter.

The privately held carrier, which emerged from 13 months of bankruptcy in February, posted a net loss of $9.9 million in the third quarter, much more than its $2.2 million loss in the year-earlier quarter, when it still was in reorganization.

To compete with the new carrier go!, a subsidiary of Mesa Air Group Inc., and Hawaiian Airlines, Aloha was forced to lower its interisland fares to as low as $19 one way.

David Banmiller, president and chief executive of Aloha, said go! was partly to blame for the wider loss.

"During the third quarter, Aloha faced a new interisland competitor who priced its product below its operating cost," Banmiller said. "Even though we have a lower operating cost per seat than the competition, our earnings were negatively impacted as we remained price competitive while operating one of the best on-time airlines in the nation. In addition, our fuel costs were higher in the third quarter."

Aloha's revenue declined to $99.8 million last quarter from $114.7 million a year ago, according to preliminary data released yesterday by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Operating expenses totaled $110.4 million, up about 3 percent from $107.3 million a year ago. The airline spent $30.8 million on fuel last quarter. Aloha declined to disclose its fuel costs from the year-earlier quarter.

Aloha's operating loss widened to $10.6 million from $7.4 million a year ago.