America West posts quarterly loss, beats forecasts CHICAGO (Reuters) =97 America West Holdings, parent of America West= Airlines,=20 Wednesday posted a narrower quarterly loss than expected, even as high fuel= =20 prices and weak travel demand stemming from the Iraq war took a toll on the= =20 industry. America West, the No. 8 U.S. air carrier, said its quarterly net= =20 loss amounted to $62.0 million, or $1.84 per share, in the first quarter,=20 compared with a net loss of $273.5 million, or $8.10 per share, for the=20 year-earlier quarter that included a large write-down. Last week,=20 Phoenix-based America West said it would cut about 250 jobs, including five= =20 senior officers, under a plan to trim costs by $100 million. "Our financial= =20 results continue to reflect the harsh realities facing our industry today,"= =20 Chief Executive Douglas Parker said. "We remain in the midst of the most=20 difficult period in aviation history and it is difficult to predict when=20 conditions will improve." Lehman Brothers analyst Gary Chase noted the=20 company is stepping up efforts to reduce its already low cost structure.=20 "As expected, America West's general outperformance continued during the=20 first quarter, given the benefits of company-wide restructuring efforts, a= =20 new fare structure and a lack of international exposure," Chase wrote in a= =20 research note. Excluding special items, America West said its loss for the quarter was=20 $66.5 million, or $1.97 per share, compared with $76.4 million, or $2.27=20 per share, a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected the low-cost=20 carrier to report a loss of $2.09 per share, with forecasts ranging from a= =20 loss of $1.85 per share to a loss of $2.25 per share, according to Thomson= =20 First Call. America West said it took a $1 million charge related to the=20 elimination of its Columbus, Ohio, hub. The company said in February it=20 expected to take a pretax charge of $10 million to $15 million related to=20 the Columbus changes, but a company spokeswoman said Wednesday the bulk of= =20 those charges would come in the second or third quarter as the Columbus=20 operations are phased out. The airline said previously its Columbus=20 operations were losing $25 million a year as more passengers were taking=20 cross- country flights, reducing the need for passengers to make=20 connections there. America West's other hubs are in Phoenix and Las Vegas.= =20 The airline said it had $356 million in cash and short-term investments at= =20 the end of the quarter, $310 million of which is unrestricted. Total=20 operating revenue for the quarter was $523.2 million, up 13.7 percent from= =20 the same period in 2002. America West last month restated its financial=20 results for 2001 and 2002 to account for charges related to the value of=20 its aircraft. Shares of America West have risen in the last four weeks=20 after gaining about 14 percent in the first quarter. The stock rose 12=20 cents to $2.97 on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.pscutt.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************