Spirit Airlines (Spirit) has reported third-quarter 2021 financial results. The carrier ended the third quarter of 2021 with US$1.9 billion of unrestricted cash, cash equivalents, short-term investment securities and liquidity available under the company’s revolving credit facility. Spirit reported third-quarter revenues of US$922.6 million and posted a net income of US$14.8 million.
The Company experienced significant operating challenges during the quarter driven in part by adverse weather conditions which, when combined with airport staffing shortages and crew dislocations, led to an unusually large number of flight delays and cancellations. Following these disruptions and in light of continued airport staffing issues, Spirit elected to make tactical schedule reductions to help support its operational reliability, which resulted in lower-than-expected capacity growth for the quarter. Load factor for the third quarter 2021 was 77.6% on a 3.5% capacity increase versus third quarter 2019. Spirit’s DOT on-time performance was 68.3% and its Completion Factor was 93.5%.
Total operating revenues for the third quarter 2021 were US$922.6 million, a decrease of 7.0% versus third quarter 2019. Despite the operational challenges in the quarter and the continued negative impact on travel demand due to COVID-19, the company experienced quarter-over-quarter improvements in total operating revenues and operating yields, increasing 7.4% and 8.0%, respectively, from second quarter 2021.
For the third quarter 2021, total revenue per passenger flight segment (segment) increased 0.7% compared to the same period in 2019 to US$110.91. Fare revenue per segment decreased 7.6% to US$50.61 while non-ticket revenue per segment increased 8.9% to US$60.30. Spirit continues to deliver strong non-ticket performance as a result of investments in enhanced product offerings and improved merchandising as well as the realised benefits from revenue management initiatives. (£1.00 = US$1.37 at time of publication).
