How Did JetBlue Perform Operationally In November?

JetBlue Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU), like most its competitors, suffered operationally on the back of adverse weather conditions that hit the U.S. East Coast and the Caribbean in Q3. Consequently, the company expects these factors to hurt financials through the remainder of the year.

As expected, key metric growth in the month came in lower than expected this time around. In November, the carrier managed to grow its capacity at a rate of 4.3% y-o-y, bringing the year-to-date capacity growth to 4.5%, which is actually high in comparison to most of its peers. In terms of traffic, revenue passenger miles were up a modest 2.8% y-o-y, and up 3.6% in the year so far.

Further, revenue passengers boarded were up by about 2.2% y-o-y, and 4.9% in the year-to-date. The load factor was down a significant 120 bps to 84.2%. Additionally, the company managed to report a preliminary completion factor of 99.7%, while its on-time performance came in at 86.5%.

JetBlue now expects fourth quarter revenue per available seat mile (RASM) growth to range between (0.5)-1.5% compared to the fourth quarter of 2016. Additionally, the company now estimates a negative impact from the recent hurricanes, notably Irma and Maria, in Q4, to only come in around 50 basis points, significantly lower than the previous estimate of 1-2%.

Notes:

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2) Figures mentioned are approximate values to help our readers remember the key concepts more intuitively. For precise figures, please refer to our complete analysis for JetBlue Corporation

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