US Airways says back-to-back East Coast snow storms cost it $30M in lost sales in February

US Airways says storms cost $30M in lost sales

TEMPE, Ariz. — US Airways Group Inc. said Wednesday that severe winter storms on the East Coast in February cost it $30 million in lost sales as the carrier had to cancel thousands of flights and suspend operations for six days at three major airports.

Jesup & Lamont downgraded the shares to “Hold” from “Buy,” as analyst Helane Becker forecast a larger first-quarter loss — to 53 cents per share from her previous forecast of a loss of 34 cents per share.

The shares fell 21 cents, or 2.7 percent, to close at $7.47.

US Airways canceled 7.1 percent of its flights last month because of the storms — the highest cancellation rate since the carrier combined with America West in 2005.

US Airways, which has more departures on the East Coast than any other airline, said its traffic fell to 3.85 billion revenue passenger miles from 4.04 billion a year earlier. A revenue passenger mile represents one paying passenger flown one mile.

The number of available seats times miles flown, or capacity, also fell as the carrier was forced to park planes to wait out the snow. But occupancy rate rose as passengers from canceled flights were diverted to fill empty space on other flights.

US Airways’ operations were suspended for three days in February at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, two days at Philadelphia International, which is one of its base airports, and one day at New York’s LaGuardia.

On Tuesday, Continental Airlines Inc. said it lost $25 million due to the storms. Continental has a base in Newark, N.J.

In a bright spot in February, US Airways said more lucrative business travelers are returning to the skies. Its corporate booking sales leaped 35 percent last month compared with a year earlier.

Many businesses cut corporate travel during the recession, while others put frequent fliers in cheaper coach seats to save money.