JetBlue Airways believes it 'reached the bottom in terms of demand' in Apr-2020

JetBlue Airways reported (07-May-2020) a net loss of USD268 million in 1Q2020, compared to a net profit of USD42 million in 1Q2019. Revenue also fell 15.1% during this period, driven by a 52% decline in revenue and 19% reduction in capacity during Mar-2020. JetBlue Airways president and COO Joanna Geraghty stated: "Although the overall number of bookings remained extremely limited, we believe that we reached the bottom in terms of demand around mid-April, and expect to have a better sense of third and the fourth quarter of 2020 by early summer". Fuel prices also fell 9.3% to USD1.86 per gallon, reducing JetBlue's fuel expense by approximately USD46 million in 1Q2020. The carrier has entered forward fuel derivative contracts to hedge fuel consumption for 2/3/4Q2020, and based on the forward curve as of 24-Apr-2020, expects an average all in price of USD0.76 per gallon of fuel in 2Q2020. "We believe we are in the best position of any time in our 20-year history to effectively weather this crisis and emerge even stronger", commented JetBlue Airways CFO Steve Priest. The carrier ended 1Q2020 with approximately USD1.8 billion in unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, amounting to 22.2% of 2019 revenue. [more - original PR]