WN financials hit headwinds

[FWAAA]

Excluding special items, 2011 net income of $330 milion, almost a million dollars a day. Not bad.

 

[WorldTraveler]

no one said to abandon ship or that the end was coming... but you somehow glossed over that WN is a $15B/year company in revenue which means a million dollars of profit per day isn't a whole lot. Their operating margin in the 4th quarter was a couple of percent and for the year was nowhere near the double digit levels that WN reported for years. RASM growth was up just a couple percent.
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The network industry will be reporting over the next week... of course there are people who NEVER want to make comparisons because it might really show how a company is doing but WN's performance WILL underperform other large carriers in the industry - unless other carriers are lying and analysts aren't smart enough to figure it out.
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The hyperbole and hysterics are expected but it doesn't change the fact that WN's financial underperformance is notable and also explains why their former testosterone laden aggressive has been replaced by the timidity of a pussy cat now.
WN is still a strong company and has the ability to turn things around but they are not the force in the industry they once were, whether some people want to hear it or not.
No one stays at the top of the heap forever....
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we have have noticed, haven't we, that WN is one of the key public opponents of the US government's new "all-in" fare disclosures which WN says could cost it tens of millions of dollars in revenue? How could it be that the no checked bag fee champion is now aggressively fighting full fare disclosure?
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what you have to put up with in me is someone who understands what is really going on in the airline industry and isn't afraid to call a spade what it is, even if it means stepping on toes. Of course whether I call a spade a spade doesn't really change reality but a whole lot of people are happy to live in something short of reality instead of confront it.

 

[BoeingBoy]

we have have noticed, haven't we, that WN is one of the key public opponents of the US government's new "all-in" fare disclosures which WN says could cost it tens of millions of dollars in revenue? How could it be that the no checked bag fee champion is now aggressively fighting full fare disclosure?

A lagging carrier is one of the "key public opponents" of better fee reporting? Seems odd when juxtaposed with media comments like:
"Southwest Airlines broke with fellow Air Transport Association members by lending conditional support to the Department of Transportation's plan to collect more ancillary revenue data from airlines, according to comments filed this week with regulators." or
"Delta, in a joint reply with American, United and US Airways, called the proposal 'unduly burdensome, complex and unjustified.'" but "Southwest Airlines, now the parent of AirTran Airways, urged the DOT to cut proposed reporting categories to six but said it believes the public “would benefit from more accurate, comprehensive, and transparent information” on ancillary fees." OMG, DL was against the fee transparency!!! How dare inferior WN be against anything DL wants...

what you have to put up with in me is someone who understands what is really going on in the airline industry and isn't afraid to call a spade what it is, even if it means stepping on toes. Of course whether I call a spade a spade doesn't really change reality but a whole lot of people are happy to live in something short of reality instead of confront it.

And not bashful about telling everyone that you've got superior intellect and knowledge...

Jim

 

[does this plane go to paris]

A lagging carrier is one of the "key public opponents" of better fee reporting? Seems odd when juxtaposed with media comments like:
"Southwest Airlines broke with fellow Air Transport Association members by lending conditional support to the Department of Transportation's plan to collect more ancillary revenue data from airlines, according to comments filed this week with regulators." or
"Delta, in a joint reply with American, United and US Airways, called the proposal 'unduly burdensome, complex and unjustified.'" but "Southwest Airlines, now the parent of AirTran Airways, urged the DOT to cut proposed reporting categories to six but said it believes the public “would benefit from more accurate, comprehensive, and transparent information” on ancillary fees." OMG, DL was against the fee transparency!!! How dare inferior WN be against anything DL wants...



And not bashful about telling everyone that you've got superior intellect and knowledge...

Jim

And here I thought you were looking for a "kewl" new icon.

Thanks Jim, you made me smile. This is classic.

 

[BoeingBoy]

How's this...

Jim

 

[xUT]

How's this...

Jim

I liked your old avatar better.
You could give this to American6 though....

IMHO,
B) xUT

 

[does this plane go to paris]

I liked your old avatar better.
You could give this to American6 though....

IMHO,
B) xUT

To be fair, I think that American6 is not the only one that should receive this award.

 

[BoeingBoy]

I liked your old avatar better.

Maybe I should take that icon to heart. I tried changing my avatar picture and could only succeed in changing the aspect ratio of the old picture. The avatar page would show the new pic but posts still showed the old pic, just too tall for the width.

Jim

 

[2BlacknBlue]

Southwest Airlines Co. Earnings: Beats the Street on Profit Rise


Results: Net income for the airline rose to $152 million (20 cents per share) vs. $131 million (18 cents per share) in the same quarter a year earlier. This marks a rise of 16% from the year earlier quarter.

Revenue: Rose 31.9% to $4.11 billion from the year earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: LUV reported adjusted net income of 9 cents per share. By that measure, the company beat the mean estimate of 7 cents per share. Analysts were expecting revenue of $4.13 billion.

 

[BoeingBoy]

Ya know what? Glider pilots view headwinds as an opportunity for topographical uplifts which extend the flight...

Jim

 

[WorldTraveler]

LUV did a good job of preparing Wall street for its performance but it doesn't change the fact that the couple percent of profit margin that WN posted is far short of what they have traditionally done. That just happened to be all Wall street was expecting.
It is noteworthy that WN noted in its financial release that FL operations just barely broke even, confirmed by their announcement to cut 6 FL cities.
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Yes, headwinds are exactly what enables lift.... and despite the hysterics that some want to make out of it, I have consistently noted that WN will get past this period and will adapt well... but it also doesn't change the fact that they are going through a difficult integration process and in so doing are having to walk away from their typical aggressiveness in the market in order to ensure the airline is not damaged long term, which many legacy airlines were through their mergers.
WN acquired FL for the long term and they will succeed long term.... but for now they are in repair and regroup mode.

 

[num1bearsfan]

LUV did a good job of preparing Wall street for its performance but it doesn't change the fact that the couple percent of profit margin that WN posted is far short of what they have traditionally done. That just happened to be all Wall street was expecting.
It is noteworthy that WN noted in its financial release that FL operations just barely broke even, confirmed by their announcement to cut 6 FL cities.
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Yes, headwinds are exactly what enables lift.... and despite the hysterics that some want to make out of it, I have consistently noted that WN will get past this period and will adapt well... but it also doesn't change the fact that they are going through a difficult integration process and in so doing are having to walk away from their typical aggressiveness in the market in order to ensure the airline is not damaged long term, which many legacy airlines were through their mergers.
WN acquired FL for the long term and they will succeed long term.... but for now they are in repair and regroup mode.

You think this integration is going badly?.... I disagree.. Despite what's said on this forum I think the people at Southwest first and foremost understand the importance of making this integration happen as painlessly as possible, and I also thing that the people of AirTran ARE genuinely excited about becoming a part of our company. At the end of the day, sacrifices might have to be made but it WILL get done with little or no setbacks. We're on pace for SOC in March... This merger process at the end of the day will be looked upon as possibly one of the most efficient and expeditious ones in airline history.

 

[QA4Jet-A]

LUV did a good job of preparing Wall street for its performance but it doesn't change the fact that the couple percent of profit margin that WN posted is far short of what they have traditionally done. That just happened to be all Wall street was expecting.
It is noteworthy that WN noted in its financial release that FL operations just barely broke even, confirmed by their announcement to cut 6 FL cities.
.
Yes, headwinds are exactly what enables lift.... and despite the hysterics that some want to make out of it, I have consistently noted that WN will get past this period and will adapt well... but it also doesn't change the fact that they are going through a difficult integration process and in so doing are having to walk away from their typical aggressiveness in the market in order to ensure the airline is not damaged long term, which many legacy airlines were through their mergers.
WN acquired FL for the long term and they will succeed long term.... but for now they are in repair and regroup mode.

Just barely breaking even beats a Loss and those six cities were goners after the Subs ran out! I can't believe they lasted as long as they did.... Yer correcto WT, WN will succeed long term and they are now in a Pep Rally.
Nothing to repair but just blend work groups to get the most out of everything and even though WN has a higher operating cost then FL, they will make Delta miss out on some of those crazy high prices for a ticket! $ $ $
Cheers QA

 

[SharoninSAT]

You think this integration is going badly?.... I disagree.. Despite what's said on this forum I think the people at Southwest first and foremost understand the importance of making this integration happen as painlessly as possible, and I also think that the people of AirTran ARE genuinely excited about becoming a part of our company. At the end of the day, sacrifices might have to be made but it WILL get done with little or no setbacks. We're on pace for SOC in March... This merger process at the end of the day will be looked upon as possibly one of the most efficient and expeditious ones in airline history.

Well stated and I agree.

Just barely breaking even beats a Loss and those six cities were goners after the Subs ran out! I can't believe they lasted as long as they did.... Yer correcto WT, WN will succeed long term and they are now in a Pep Rally.
Nothing to repair but just blend work groups to get the most out of everything and even though WN has a higher operating cost then FL, they will make Delta miss out on some of those crazy high prices for a ticket! $ $ $
Cheers QA

I've got my Pom Pom's and I'm ready to Cheer !

 

[tech2101]

LUV did a good job of preparing Wall street for its performance but it doesn't change the fact that the couple percent of profit margin that WN posted is far short of what they have traditionally done.

What they have traditionally done is exceed all expectations over the long term (read 20+years).

They will continue to do so as long as they continue to hire and retain the type of team (employee base) that they have now.

The winning formula is based on the old notion of having the right people in the right positions. They only need to ensure that the drivers of the LUV bus keep the good people on it, let the wrong people off at the next stop, and make sure it is heading in the right direction.

(Is that enough MBA speak for you?)