(By Balachander) JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) reported an increase in traffic and load factor for the month of October, while capacity was flat.
The New York-based airliner said revenue passenger miles (RPMs) - a measure of traffic - rose 1.0 percent to 2.54 billion from the year-ago period. Available seat miles (ASMs) - a measure of capacity - remained unchanged at 3.00 billion.
Load factor, or the percentage of seats filled, rose 0.8 points to 84.3 percent last month from 83.5 percent a year earlier.
The airliner estimates Hurricane Sandy reduced passenger revenue by roughly $20 million in October.
JetBlue said its preliminary completion factor was 92.9 percent and its on-time performance was 74.1 percent.
The airline's preliminary passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) increased 2 percent last month.
For the year-to-date period, RPMs increased 10 percent and ASMs rose 7.8 percent. Load factor added 1.8 points to 84.4 percent.
Looking ahead for November, JetBlue expects passenger to be reduced by around $20 million to $25 million primarily due to slow demand recovery in the wake of the Sandy storm. PRASM is expected to decline between 3 percent and 4 percent.
JBLU shares, which have been trading in the range of $3.40 to $6.32 for the past 52 weeks, gained 1.51 percent to trade at $5.05 on Thursday.