AirTran Airways earned a whopping $36.3 million in their third quarter according to a press release by the Orlando based airline Friday.
Last year during the same time period AirTran made $10.4 million. Much of the profit came due to AirTran’s wise decision to lock in a low fuel price thanks to fuel hedging.
Operating revenues were $668
million, up 11.8 percent, while operating expenses were $611.3 million, up 9.1 percent.
AirTran Airways just announced last month that it would be acquired by Dallas-based Southwest Airlines. The deal is expected to be complete by the first quarter of 2011, pending approval. Until that time AirTran will continue to operate separately from Southwest.
