Originally Posted by
Bluedriver
"Excluding net special items1, fourth-quarter and full-year net income of $192 million and $1.9 billion".
They took some investment write-downs that weren't part of the airline operations. The airline itself made $192m 4th quarter, and 1.9b for the year. For an airline that was supposed to be a dead man walking a couple of years ago.
The fact that F9 might, maybe, possibly be profitable, and NK is not, answer the question about whether the ULCC business model is struggling. And the NK engine problem is really not to blame, as the bulk of the issue is yet to come. I don't know if Pratt compensation has started yet though.
Remember, they pay down debts with free cash flow. The basic difference is depreciation reduces profit. But those were paid by debt back when the a/c were received. Depreciation is not money out of the bank.
Their free cash flow allowed them to pay off more debt than $1.9b for the year.