Shares for JetBlue Airways fell over 13% on Tuesday, eclipsing a previous low set in 2011, after the airline company said rising fuel prices, “staggering” weather delays and air traffic control limitations resulted in a net loss through the third quarter.
KEY FACTS
JetBlue’s shares fell 13.21% to $3.65 as of early Tuesday afternoon, the largest single-day decline for the company since June 13, 2022, when shares fell by 11.43% to $8.45.
The share price also eclipsed a previous low of $3.86 set in July 2011, after falling to as low as $3.42 on Tuesday.
JetBlue reported $2.35 billion in revenue for the third quarter, an 8% decline over the previous year, falling short of analyst projections of $2.38 billion, according to CNBC.
The airline also reported a net loss of $135 million, or 46 cents per share, after posting a profit of $57 million a year earlier.
An adjusted loss upward of 55 per share is expected for the fourth quarter, JetBlue said, exceeding previous analyst projections of a loss of 15 cents per share, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Chief financial officer Ursula Hurley said the airline suffered from the “sheer magnitude” of delays caused by air traffic control and weather, while the company added that six aircraft are grounded because of a manufacturing defect and more could be affected.
CRUCIAL QUOTE
“We have a very big order book of new airplanes, but they’re all coming late,” JetBlue chief executive Robin Hayes told Bloomberg last month, adding, “On top of that, there are some engine issues. And so, we actually have airplanes on the ground today with no engines because there isn’t enough engines to support them.”
SURPRISING FACT
The all-time low for JetBlue’s share price is $2.81, a mark set in January 2001.
KEY BACKGROUND
Airport delays and flight cancellations affected several U.S. airlines earlier this year, amid severe weather and a shortage of air traffic controller employees. As of June, the U.S. was experiencing upward of 9,000 delayed flights per day, according to FlightAware. The airline industry is also affected by declining demand following a spike after the pandemic, in addition to higher fuel prices and parts shortages, according to Bloomberg. JetBlue said it would add 30 new aircraft this year, though the company has said it will only receive 19 because of defective parts supplied by Pratt & Whitney, including some engines.
TANGENT
The Justice Department sued JetBlue earlier this year in an effort to block the airline’s $3.8 billion all-cash acquisition of Spirit, after JetBlue won a bidding war over rival Frontier Airlines. The Justice Department claims the merger would increase fares and “reduce choice on routes” across the U.S., harming “cost-conscious” travelers. A trial for the lawsuit began Tuesday. This article originally appeared on Forbes.
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