JetBlue Airways lowered its capacity projections for the remainder of 2018 to ease the impact of a nearly 40 percent increase in fuel prices.
“The team is focused on mitigating the impact of higher fuel in order to stabilize and improve our margins,” Chief Executive Officer Robin Hayes told investors on Tuesday. The company is pursuing a “series of adjustments” to both available flights and fees that will take effect in the coming months.
“We are further slowing capacity growth for the fourth quarter,” he said, and “factoring higher fuel prices into our preliminary capacity planning for 2019.”
Capacity will likely increase just 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent in all of 2018, reflecting a reduction in the last three months of the year, New York-based JetBlue said.
Revenue grew 5 percent to $1.92 billion for the quarter that ended on June 30. The company spent $491 million on fuel and taxes, leading to an operating loss of $144 million.
Fare-paying passengers climbed 5.9 percent to 10.9 million in the period, while average fares dropped slightly to $170.08.
JetBlue is in the midst of restructuring its operations and recently announced a number of layoffs and buyouts.
