JetBlue reports loss, revises Airbus orders to save $1 billion through 2022

(Reuters) – JetBlue Airways Corp (JBLU.O) on Thursday posted a $268 million quarterly loss as the coronavirus pandemic hurt air travel demand, and revised its order book with Airbus SE (AIR.PA) to save $1.1 billion in aircraft spending through 2022.

Since cases of the novel coronavirus began accelerating in March, U.S air travel demand has sunk by about 95{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f}, forcing airlines to shift their focus from growth plans to parking planes and minimizing their daily cash burn.

While the overall number of bookings was “extremely limited,” New York-based JetBlue said it believed demand had reached a floor around mid-April and it expected to have a better sense of the third and fourth quarters by early summer.

Following measures to boost its liquidity, JetBlue expects its daily cash burn to fall to just below $10 million in May from an average of $18 million in the second half of March, excluding government assistance under the CARES Act.

The airline is set to receive $936 million in government payroll assistance, which bans companies from reducing their workforce until Sept. 30, and said it has applied for an additional up to $1.14 billion government loan that it can draw if needed.

Revenue declined 15.1{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} in the first quarter from a year earlier, including a 52{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} decline in March as the pandemic hurt demand and fares.

Net losses reached $268 million for the first quarter ended March 31, compared with a profit of $42 million a year earlier.

Excluding special items, the net loss was $116 million, or a loss of $0.42 per share.