Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings posts $29.9 million net profit

Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings posts $29.9 million net profit    Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc. (AAWW), parent company of Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo, reported a third quarter net profit of $29.9 million, compared to a net loss of $4.4 million in the same quarter 2004.
   Third quarter operating income was $68 million, compared to an operating loss of $4.5 million in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue increased 15.6 percent to $404.9 million from $350.2 million.
   AAWW said its total operated block hours increased 3 percent on improved aircraft utilization and an approximate 6 percent rise in the number of average operating aircraft.
   “Our strong performance, despite a short-term labor action mainly affecting our scheduled service segment in the latter half of September, benefited from the relatively full utilization of our aircraft, the continued optimization of available capacity in favor of ACMI leasing and AMC charter operations, and higher unit revenues in all four of our service types during the quarter. In addition, total operating expenses declined even though we experienced higher aircraft fuel and labor costs,” said Jeffrey H. Erickson, president and chief executive officer of AAWW.
   For the year to date, AAWW posted net income of $46.4 million, an operating income of $132.3 million and revenue of $1.1 billion.
   “Looking at our fourth quarter prospects, we expect to see an acceleration of scheduled maintenance activity, in part due to our relatively high aircraft deployment during 2005, which in turn will moderate our results somewhat for the final three-month period of the year. Nonetheless, we expect healthy fourth-quarter earnings,” Erickson said.