Is there any airline in the US that fly Airbus and make a profit?

Question

I know that JetBlue has them, and usually post's a profit but they're paying A LOT of their profit out to pay for the planes and landing fees. After they pay the bills, do they still have a strong operating profit? Sooner or later, it's probably gonna put the squeeze on them.

Answer 1

Airlines don't operate airliners that don't turn a profit for very long if and when they prove to be unsatisfactory. When airlines order planes from a manufacturer they are given certain guarantees that the aircraft will perform as advertised or they
have to pay penalties to offset any differences that may occur in operation expenses.
A classic case of this happening is when the French aircraft manufacturer Dessault designed a twin engine airliner very similar to today's 737 called The Mercure. The French domestic carrier Air Inter was pressured by the government to order the plane which proved to be more expensive to operate than advertised. The government had to end up paying that airline to compensate for these expenses for the entire time the plane was in service. In the end, Air Inter was the only airline that ordered the plane which was quickly taken out of production at a great loss to the manufacturer.

This was a hard learned lesson for the industry and not likely to happen again. Airbus aircraft are designed to be just as profitable as are Boeing's. Eastern was the first U.S. airline to order the A-300 the first airliner from Airbus. Today there are several.

Answer 2

The most profitable domestic airline in the US is Southwest. They fly nothing but 737s. The 737 has better operating economics (fuel burn) and less maintenance than the A320. The A320's main advantage is that they have a low purchase price, but Boeing has worked production cost really hard on the 737 so they are very competitive.

Southwest is also very good at hedging fuel prices, turning the airplanes fast at the gate so they get more time per day in the air, etc.

United makes a little profit, but they are a big international carrier and probably make their money on those routes, flying 777s mostly. Northwest likewise flies their profitable Asian routes on 747s.

Jet Blue makes some money, but less than they did.

Answer 3

no, JetBlue are still running at a profit on Airbus. In fact, Airbuses are cheaper and more efficient to operate than Boeing 737's so it is easier to make a profit with Airbuses. Airlines in Asia & Australia eg. AirAsia, Tiger Airways and Jetstar all operate Airbus A320's and all are running at a profit.

Answer 4

The United airline and north west are flying Airbus and they are making profit(only for the shareholders).

Answer 5

First of all I don't know where you got the stats that indicate that the A320 is more efficent than the 737. Espically the NG versions. Secondly I might add SWA an RyanAir use them. They are both highly succesful airlines.

Answer 6

Frontier has an all Airbus fleet and is pulling pretty good returns each year.

Answer 7

So is USAir, USAirways, or whater they now call themself.