Hawaiian Airlines - Heavy Headwind

Hawaiian Airlines has just revealed it's earnings report for the first quarter of 2019 which show that the carrier is struggling.

Despite the achievements during the quarter, there were a lot of unfavourable factors which led to the lower results.

Possibly the worst part of the financial data was the net income which was 41.7% lower than last year amounting to $32.6 million.

Revenue was down to $657 million from $665 million during the same period last year, a 1.3% decrease.

Total unit revenue was down 3.7% to 13.54 cents while the adjusted cost per available seat mile excluding fuel was up 1.4%.

The CEO of Hawaiian Airlines, Peter Ingram, said that despite the disappointing figures, the carrier made 'important progress'.

Not only did Hawaiian retire its Boeing 767 fleet with the more efficient Airbus A321NEO, but it also launched a number of new routes including the longest domestic connection in America from Honolulu to Boston.

However, there were a number of factors that led to the results which were as follows:

• New competition from low cost carrier, Southwest Airlines Ingram said earlier last year that he wasn't afraid or Southwest Airlines and stated that Hawaiian Airlines experience, product and service are more desirable than that of Southwest, giving it a competitive advantage.

• Competition on West coast-Hawaii routes

• Less demand for intra-island flights within Hawaii

• Rising fuel costs

• Rising labor costs

Peter Ingram said, "We made important progress against our 2019 priorities in the first quarter, advancing a host of initiatives that will bring lasting value to our guests, our team, and our shareholders. Executing the winning formula we have crafted in the course of 90 years of serving Hawaii with the best mix of service, products, and aircraft positions us well to continue to succeed in the face of an evolving competitive environment. We look forward to the rest of 2019 and demonstrating, yet again, that Hawaiian is the carrier of choice to Hawaii."

He added that he was "confident the returns will be delivered to our bottom line and shareholder value will be enhanced for the long term."

Hawaiian Airlines' results were not exactly positive. But Hawaiian is confident that with its expertise, product and experience in the market it will thrive once more.