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Sun Country Airlines reported its 1st quarter 2024 earnings, with revenues up 6% over 2023 to a record $312 million and a quarterly profit of $35.3 million, down $2.9 million year over year. Sun Country Airlines has remained profitable while other ULCCs, including Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines are losing money.
“This is our seventh consecutive quarter of profitability,” said CEO Jude Bricker. “The staffing-driven constraints we’re experienced for over a year now have eased and we were able to grow our scheduled service business as rapidly as we intended.”
Sun Country operates differently than competing ULCCs, with a diversified business model that includes charter and cargo operations in addition to scheduled service. That model enables the airline to flex capacity during peak traffic periods to maximize profitability,.
“Our diversified business model is unique in the industry,” said Bricker. The combination of our scheduled flexibility and the low-fixed-cost model allows us to respond to both predictable demand fluctuations and exogenous industry shocks.”
The Bottom Line
By examining the best use of aircraft each season and the ability to move between scheduled and charter to maximize revenue while minimizing costs, Sun Country may have discovered a way to be profitable when other ULCCs are suffering losses.
