Usair Blames 2 Deadly Crashes For Falling Ridership, Rising Losses
The bad news continues to pile up for USAir, with a $322 million loss in the fourth quarter of 1994, a year that saw two deadly USAir crashes and continuing labor disputes.
The loss reported Friday was triple that of the last three months of 1993. USAir blamed much of the shortfall on two deadly accidents - leading to a “dramatic dropoff” in ridership in the fall.
Spokesman Rick Weintraub said the drop in passengers was strongest in October and November, cutting airline revenues by an estimated $110 million.
The airline industry experienced passenger growth of 6 percent to 7 percent during the fall, Weintraub said, while passenger concern held USAir down to a 2 percent increase. But he said bookings are back to normal now and advance ticket sales for February and March are “encouraging.”
In reporting the fourth-quarter loss, USAir Chairman Seth E. Schofield announced immediate steps to cut operating expenses, including a shrinking of the airline’s operations.
“This will result in a USAir with fewer planes and fewer people,” he said “As the first of these actions, the company intends to defer eight Boeing 757 aircraft that were scheduled for 1996 delivery.”
The company’s $322 million loss for the quarter compared with a loss of $116.5 million in the same period a year earlier. Revenues were $1.68 billion, down from $1.8 billion.
For all of 1994, USAir lost $684.9 million, compared with a loss of $393.1 million in 1993. Revenues fell to $7 billion from $7.08 billion.
In other earnings reports:
Texas Instruments Inc. on Friday reported a 40 percent jump in fourthquarter profit as computer chip sales continued climbing strongly.
The company earned $188 million, or $1.98 per share, for the quarter that ended Dec. 31. It earned $134 million, or $1.42 per share, in the same period a year ago.
Sales were $2.78 billion, up from $2.37 billion a year ago.
The latest quarter included expenses for job cuts in Japan and other overseas operations and start-up costs for new manufacturing space in Dallas.
Texas Instruments in 1994 earned $691 million, or $7.27 per share, on sales of $10.31 billion. TI earned $472 million, or $5.03 a share, on sales of $8.52 billion in 1993.
LTV Corp.’s strong showing in 1994 earnings and sales mainly reflected cost controls and increased steel demand, Chairman David H. Hoag said Friday.
Subsidiary LTV Steel Co. had its best full-year results since 1989.
LTV, which emerged from bankruptcy protection a year and a half ago, reported earnings of $40.2 million in last year’s fourth quarter. That is a gain of $36.4 million over the same quarter in 1993 after factoring out unusual items.
The earnings amounted to 37 cents per share. In the 1993 fourth quarter, reported net income of $246.8 million, or $2.99 per share, but $243 million of the earnings came from settlement of an antitrust lawsuit and other one-time financial gains.
Sales in the quarter rose to $1.21 billion, up 8 percent from a year ago.