Spirit Airlines

But airline says it’s set for summer peak

Profits have declined, but the airline still produced strong results, the company said.

Low-cost Spirit Airlines on Friday said its first-quarter profits plunged by nearly 50 percent year over year, but the company still produced strong results in the face of winter storms and the January shooting tragedy at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

The Miramar-based airline beat analysts’ estimates on earnings, although profits were 48 percent lower than in 2016.

Net income was $31.9 million, or 46 cents a share, for the first quarter compared with $61.9 million, or 86 cents a share, a year ago.

Spirit’s stock price closed slightly off by 26 cents or .45 percent to $57.27 in trading Friday on the Nasdaq. Its 52-week high is $60.40.

Quarterly operating revenue was $591.7 million, an increase of 10 percent over the first quarter of 2016 when operating revenue was $538.1 million.

The increase was driven by an 11.9 percent increase in flight volume, Spirit said.

“We feel good how we’re positioned as we enter the peak demand period [in the summer],” said Bob Fornaro, Spirit’s president and CEO.

Spirit, which has been adding aircraft and flights, will use its scale “to position ourselves in key large cities. We’ll build on the international network, particularly from Fort Lauderdale,” Fornaro said. He said Spirit has had double-digit growth in Fort Lauderdale for the past two years.

The airline has been working to improve service and reduce customer complaints, while keeping costs low in a highly competitive environment.

Earlier this month, the airline announced it is ending its service to Cuba, citing low demand and industry overcapacity on routes from the U.S. to the island.

Ted Christie, Spirit’s chief financial officer, said in a news release that the airline held the line on operating costs in the quarter, despite expenses related to “heavy maintenance events,” depreciation of purchased aircraft, and higher ground handling rates.

Sensitive financial measures including operating revenue per available seat mile fell 4.2 percent while passenger load factors fell to 81.6 percent from 84.7 percent in the first quarter of 2016.

Fornaro said the airline’s ontime performance improved 10.2 percent to 75.5 percent for the first quarter.