"Revenue gains not keeping pace with increase in the price of jet fuel": JetBlue

United Airlines' parent UAL Corp, US Airways Group Inc and JetBlue Airways Corp all reported second-quarter losses -- with UAL alone suffering a quarterly loss of $2.7 billion.

UAL said its net loss totaled $2.73 billion, or $21.47 per share, compared with a profit of $274 million, or $1.83 per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time charges, UAL lost $1.19 per share. UAL took a $2.6 billion non-cash charge, including $2.3 billion to write down the impairment of goodwill. Operating revenue increased by 3 percent to $5.37 billion. The company paid $1.85 billion for fuel, an increase of 53.2 percent. The company ended the quarter with an unrestricted cash balance of $2.9 billion.

UAL said it will cut more jobs and reduce its fourth-quarter mainline domestic capacity by up to 16.5 percent, up from a previously announced 14 percent.

"Our industry is challenged as never before by the unrelenting price of oil, and United is taking aggressive action to offset unprecedented fuel costs and to strengthen the competitiveness of our business," said Glenn Tilton, the chief executive, in a statement.

US Airways Group Inc. has swung to a second-quarter net loss of $567 million, or $6.16 per diluted share. In the same period last year, the airline earned $263 million, or $2.77 per diluted share. The carrier, which serves Honolulu International Airport, said rising fuel prices added $390 million to the company's expenses in the latest quarter. US Airways (NYSE: LCC) said it spent nearly $1.1 billion on aircraft fuel and related taxes in the latest quarter, up from $658 million in the year-ago period.

In response, the airline will reduce its fourth-quarter and 2009 capacity by an additional one percent to two percent on a year-over-year basis.

"Our second-quarter results reflect the unprecedented rise in fuel prices that is impacting our industry," said Doug Parker, chief executive officer of the airline. "We are working diligently to reduce capacity and costs and execute on the new revenue programmes recently announced by US Airways and other airlines."

Excluding net special items of $466 million, US Airways lost $101 million, or $1.11 per share, in the latest quarter. In the second quarter of last year, US Airways earned $261 million, or $2.74 per share, excluding special items.

JetBlue lost $7 million, or three cents per share, compared with a net profit of $21 million, or 11 cents per share, a year earlier. Operating revenue rose 17.7 percent to $859 million.

"Revenue gains are clearly not keeping pace with the extraordinary increase in the price of jet fuel," CEO Dave Barger said in a statement.

JetBlue, whose fuel bill rose 63.7 percent, will suspend near-term growth plans in September, when capacity will be down about 10 percent year over year. The airline said it does not plan to grow in 2009.

JetBlue ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents amounting to $846 million.