Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways both reported higher-than-expected revenue forecasts for the second quarter on Thursday, as more and more people are planning to take vacations this summer.
Airfare ticket prices have seen a large increase in recent months, mostly caused by rising fuel prices, but that has not stopped travelers from booking trips.
Southwest said that their second quarter will increase by 12% to 15% compared to 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic caused airlines to struggle over the last two years. Their previous estimate was only an 8% to 12% gain compared to 2019.
In a securities filing that projected a strong second quarter, Southwest attributed it to a "continued passenger yield strength" and noted that will offset the higher fuel prices.
"The Company continues to experience strong load factors and an acceleration in bookings for summer travel," Southwest said. "The improvement in the Company's second quarter 2022 operating revenue guidance is primarily attributable to continued passenger yield strength, which has more than offset the increase in its second quarter 2022 fuel price projection.
"Barring any unforeseen events and based on current trends, the Company expects solid profits and operating margins, excluding special items, in second quarter 2022 and for the remainder of this year."
Southwest also projects that their available seat miles, or capacity, will fall by 7% in the second quarter compared to pre-pandemic numbers, despite their increased revenue estimates.
JetBlue said in a securities filing that they expect their second quarter revenue to be "at or above high-end of previous guidance," which was estimated to be an 11% to 16% increase compared to 2019.
"The demand environment continues to be strong, with bookings exceeding Company expectations," JetBlue said.
The airline noted that they have dealt with "some challenging operating conditions mainly due to weather and air traffic control disruption," but that has not slowed them down. They project their capacity to be 2% to 3% higher than 2019, and up from their previous estimate of a 0% to 3% increase.
"To date, revenue for the month of June is shaping up to be meaningfully better compared to earlier months in the quarter, and we expect June revenue per available seat mile to be up more than 20% [compared to 2019]," JetBlue said.
"JetBlue continues to expect record revenue this summer."
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