US passenger airlines reported a $1 billion after tax profit in the April-June quarter, despite a pre-tax operating loss of $3.6 billion, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) said on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th September, 2021) US passenger airlines reported a $1 billion after tax profit in the April-June quarter, despite a pre-tax operating loss of $3.6 billion, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) said on Wednesday.
"The second-quarter results represent the first quarterly profit since the fourth quarter of 2019, the last quarter before the COVID-19 pandemic began," BTS said in a press release.
Domestic operations for 24 US airlines yielded an after tax profit of $1.8 billion in the second quarter compared with a $9 billion loss in the same quarter of 2020.
International operations, which includes 19 US airlines, produced a $773.8 million second quarter loss, an improvement from a $2.1 shortfall in the second quarter of 2020.
The report predated the summer spike in COVID-19 cases due to the Delta variant, and subsequent industry warnings of losses from a subsequent plunge in bookings.
In a regulatory filing cited by US media earlier this month, United Airlines said that it no longer expects to turn a profit in the third quarter and announced reductions to its flight capacity following weak August bookings.
Other industry giants, including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines, also lowered their revenue expectations, according to media reports.
