A Jet Blue aircraft takes off from Long Beach Airport in Long Beach, CA.
Tim Rue | Bloomberg | Getty Images
JetBlue Airways on Tuesday said it swung to a loss in the second quarter and forecast that revenue will fall by about 80% in the third quarter as the coronavirus pandemic promises a choppy recovery in travel demand.
The New York-based airline carried just 616,000 passengers in the three months ended June 30, down more than 94% from the 11 million that flew JetBlue in the same period last year. Revenue plunged about 90% from the second quarter of 2019 to $215 million from more than $2.1 billion during the same three months last year.
JetBlue is the latest airline to detail financial losses stemming from the coronavirus crisis, which kept millions of would-be travelers at home. Executives are warning that while demand bottomed out in the spring, a choppy recovery is ahead because of a surge in virus cases and new travel restrictions.
The carrier, like its competitors, slashed flights in an effort to cut costs as demand fell.
JetBlue posted a net loss of $320 million in the three months ended June 30, down from net income of $179 million a year earlier.
Shares in the airline were up 0.3% in premarket trading. Company executives will detail its results and outlook in a 10 a.m. ET call.
