Hawaiian earns $2M operating profit

Advertiser Staff

Hawaiian Airlines said yesterday it had an operating profit of $2 million in May after rising fuel prices added $3 million to expenses.

The airline, which filed for bankruptcy in March 2003, reports earnings monthly and said this was its 14th consecutive month of operating profit. The airline said its net income for May was $157,000 on revenue of $59.4 million.

"Like the rest of the industry, Hawaiian Airlines is facing soaring fuel costs," said Josh Gotbaum, the court-appointed trustee managing the airline.

In May 2003, the airline had an operating profit of $15.9 million on revenue of $50.4 million. The profit was inflated by a one-time special credit of $17.5 million from the federal government's Emergency Wartime Act, the airline said.

The airline said its 18 percent increase in revenue from May 2003 was primarily due to flying the planes 85 percent full in the month, which was up 10 percentage points over May 2003.

Through the first five months of 2004, Hawaiian had $26.5 million in operating profit on revenue of $306.9 million. Overall operating revenue increased by more than $45 million, or 17 percent, compared with last year, the company said.