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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Fuel prices push airline into the red

By Rick Daysog
Advertiser Staff Writer

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Hawaiian Airlines posted a $4.5 million loss during the second quarter largely because of higher fuel prices.

The state's largest airline, which emerged from bankruptcy reorganization June 2, said the loss reverses a $6.6 million net profit for the second quarter of 2004.

The latest results, which were filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday, showed operating revenues of $202.1 million, up 5.7 percent from the previous second quarter's $191.2 million.

The airline said its operating expenses jumped 16.1 percent to $203.8 million during the three months ending June 30 from $175.6 million in the year-earlier period.

The airline said that fuel costs soared 52.1 percent to $48.2 million from second quarter 2004's $31.7 million.

Hawaiian said it paid an average of $1.74 per gallon of jet fuel during the latest quarter, which was up 41.5 percent from the year-earlier period. The airline added that it's fuel consumption increased by 7.9 percent because of expanded service in the South Pacific.

The quarterly results are the first since Hawaiian emerged from bankruptcy under new owners, Ranch Capital LLC.

Upon emerging from bankruptcy, the airline merged its operations with parent company Hawaiian Holdings Inc., and the financial results for most of June for the combined companies were included in the airlines' filing with the SEC.

According to Hawaiian Holdings, the airline and its parent company posted a combined net income of $1.4 million, or 3 cents per share, for June 2-30, which compared with a loss of $2.6 million, or 9 cents per share, during the same period last year.

Reach Rick Daysog at rdaysog@honoluluadvertiser.com.