=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2004/04/27/f= inancial1400EDT0163.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, April 27, 2004 (AP) Profit doubles at discount carrier AirTran amid falling costs (04-27) 11:00 PDT (AP) -- ORLANDO, Fla. (Dow Jones/AP) -- AirTran Holdings Inc., the parent of discount carrier AirTran Airways, Tuesday said first-quarter net income more than doubled as traffic jumped 22 percent and operating costs fell. The Orlando-based airline posted net income of $4.1 million, or 5 cents a share, compared with $2 million, or 3 cents a share, a year earlier. Operating revenue climbed 16 percent to $241.4 million from $208 million. Revenue passenger miles, or the number of miles flown for each paying passenger, increased 22 percent, as capacity jumped 21 percent. Load factor, or the percentage of available seats filled, rose 0.7 of a percentage point to 68.5 percent. Revenue per available seat mile, considered the best basic measure of revenue for airlines, fell 4.5 percent to 8.34 cents. Operating costs per available seat mile declined 4.3 percent to 8.26 cents. In afternoon trading, shares of AirTran rose 27 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $12.74, on the New York Stock Exchange. President Robert Fornaro said AirTran will take delivery of its first Boeing 737-700 aircraft in about 45 days, the first of 100 aircraft ordered. AirTran operates more than 290 daily departures to 32 cities. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004 AP