JetBlue Reports November Traffic Increase Of 10.1%

JetBlue Airways Corporation JBLU reported its preliminary traffic results Tuesday for November 2014.

The company reported that traffic (revenue passenger miles) in November increased 10.1 percent from November 2013, on a capacity increase (available seat miles) of 6.0 percent.

How did JetBlue’s performance compare with other airlines?  A sampling of results shows a wide range for November.

Southwest Airlines Co. LUV November traffic was up 6 percent and capacity was up 4 percent compared to November 2013.

Spirit Airlines SAVE was among the biggest winners for increased traffic with November 2014 coming in at 15.7 percent above the year-ago period on a capacity increase of 17.9 percent.

At American Airlines Group AAL traffic was up 1.2 percent with capacity up 2.1 percent. United Continental Holdings Inc. UAL reported very modest increases with traffic up 0.2 percent and capacity up 0.1 percent.

Analysts were largely bullish on JetBlue stock in November. Bank of America recently upgraded it to Buy while Imperial Capital rated it Outperform with Deutsche Bank, and CRT Capital rating it a Buy.

When it comes to the financial performance of any airline, increased traffic does not automatically translate to increased profits. Imperial Capital’s Bob McAdoo noted this in his recent report by commenting that “New initiatives introduced at the recent JetBlue Investor Day suggest the new management team will be taking a more profit-driven approach to managing the business.”

JetBlue Airways Corporation closed at $15.05 Tuesday, down 3 percent.