NEW YORK – JetBlue Airways Corporation reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2024.
“Thanks to our incredible crewmembers and our reinvigorated focus on improving reliability, our operation performed above plan in the first quarter, resulting in revenue and costs coming in better than expectations,” said Joanna Geraghty, JetBlue’s chief executive officer. “As we look to the full year, significant elevated capacity in our Latin region, which represents a large portion of JetBlue’s network, will likely continue to pressure revenue and we expect a setback in our expectations for the full year. We have full confidence that continuing to take action on our refocused standalone strategy is the right path forward to ultimately return to profitability again.”
“We’ve begun rolling out the initial components of our refocused plan. In the first quarter, we announced a number of significant network changes, which are designed to free up unprofitable flying and reallocate it to proven leisure markets where JetBlue has historically won” said Marty St. George, JetBlue’s president. “Demand remained healthy in peak periods, and in particular, we saw encouraging performance from our domestic and transatlantic flying, as well as continued outsized demand for our premium seating options.”
First Quarter 2024 Financial Results
- Net loss for the first quarter of 2024 under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) of $716 million or $2.11 loss per share. Excluding special items, adjusted net loss for the first quarter of 2024 of $145 million(1) or $0.43 loss per share.
- First quarter of 2024 capacity decreased by 2.7% year-over-year.
- Operating revenue of $2.2 billion for the first quarter of 2024, down 5.1% year-over-year.
- Operating expense for the first quarter of 2024 increased by 14.0% year-over-year to $2.9 billion.
- Operating expense per available seat mile (“CASM”) for the first quarter of 2024 increased 17.1% year-over-year.
- Operating expense, excluding special items for the first quarter of 2024 decreased 3.7%(1) year-over-year to $2.4 billion.
- Operating expense per available seat mile, excluding fuel, other non-airline operating expenses, and special items (“CASM ex-Fuel”)(1) for the first quarter of 2024 increased 7.1%(1) year-over-year.
- Average fuel price in the first quarter of 2024 of $2.97 per gallon.
First Quarter 2024 Key Highlights
- Continued Implementing Strategic Network Changes
- Announced the scaling back of flying at Los Angeles International Airport, reallocating flying to more profitable opportunities in core leisure markets. Departure count will be down by roughly one-third, effective June 13th.
- Rationalized our footprint at seven stations, making progress to exit Baltimore, Bogotá, Burlington, Kansas City, Lima, Newburgh and Quito.
- Launched new non-stop seasonal service to Dublin, Ireland from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and Boston Logan International Airport (“BOS”), and launched new daily nonstop service to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport from BOS.
- Executed on Our Cost Initiatives
- Implemented new fixed cost savings initiatives, including offering voluntary opt-out opportunities to select work groups, and rationalizing our real estate footprint.
- Achieved ~$100 million in structural cost savings to-date, keeping JetBlue on track to deliver run-rate savings of $175 million to $200 million by the end of 2024.
- Realized $70 million in cumulative cost savings from our fleet modernization program, which is now expected to deliver $100 million in cost savings through 2024, vs. $75 million previously, as we continue to replace the Embraer E190s with the margin-accretive A220s.
- Provided Exceptional Service for Our Customers
- Delivered improved operational performance versus our expectations, even with more disruptive operational events than last year, resulting in a completion factor of 98.7%.
- Launched additional ancillary revenue initiatives, including preferred seating on select routes, giving customers more options to choose the seat that best aligns with their preferences.
- Announced new and improved Signature Perks for Mosaics, including dedicated phone support, greater access to the Mint cabin, and the ability to gift Mosaic 1 status, further expanding the ways our most loyal customers can be rewarded.
- Advanced Our Progress as a Sustainability Leader
- Acted as one of three airlines in the largest-ever collective purchase of sustainable aviation fuel (“SAF”) certificates, equal to about 50 million gallons of high-integrity SAF, or 500,000 tons, of abated CO2e, through the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance.
Balance Sheet and Liquidity
- Made progress on extending our A320 aircraft to provide growth tailwinds, with 12 aircraft purchased or committed off-lease since the third quarter of 2023.
- Ended the first quarter with $1.7 billion in unrestricted cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments, and long-term marketable securities (excluding our $600 million undrawn revolving credit facility).
Outlook
“Aside from elevated capacity in the Latin region expecting to impact our revenue performance as we move from Q1 to Q2, the remainder of our network is steadily improving, and we look forward to launching additional revenue initiatives to support our revenue performance in the back half of the year. We remain committed to winning our high-margin, core geographies and returning to profitability again, driven by our refocused strategy to better serve our core customers” continued St. George.
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Second Quarter and Full Year 2024 Outlook
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Estimated 2Q 2024
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Estimated FY 2024
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Available Seat Miles (“ASMs”) Year-Over-Year
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(5.0%) – (2.0%)
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Down low single digits
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Revenue Year-Over-Year
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(10.5%) – (6.5%)
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Down low single digits
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CASM Ex-Fuel (1) Year-Over-Year (2)
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5.5% – 7.5%
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Up mid-to-high single digits
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Fuel Price per Gallon (3), (4)
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$2.98 – $3.13
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–
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Capital Expenditures
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~$550 million
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~$1.6 billion
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“Our laser focus on controllable cost execution delivered in the first quarter, beating our revised outlook range. We took a more granular look at our fixed costs, and implemented several cost reductions across our business. In addition, our structural cost program and fleet modernization are on-track to deliver around $275 million in cumulative savings this year. These savings are even more important in a year where fuel continues to remain volatile. As we look forward, we’ll remain nimble in responding to the unique and dynamic challenges we face in our industry, while executing on our refocused strategy to generate earnings again,” said Ursula Hurley, JetBlue’s chief financial officer.
