Spirit Airlines Reports First Quarter 2022 Results

MIRAMAR, Fla., May 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Spirit Airlines, Inc. (NYSE: SAVE) today reported first quarter 2022 financial results.

Ended the first quarter 2022 with $1.6 billion of unrestricted cash, cash equivalents, short-term investment securities and liquidity available under the Company's revolving credit facility.

"Since mid-February 2022, we've seen a dramatic improvement in demand trends, with March total revenue per passenger segment up nearly 10 percent compared to March 2019. Our non-ticket production has been very strong driven by enhanced revenue management and merchandising of products that allow our Guests to customize their travel experience. As a result, we achieved record-high non-ticket revenue per passenger segment of $64.53 for the first quarter 2022, an increase of 14.8 percent compared to first quarter 2019, and we anticipate beating that record again in the second quarter 2022," said Ted Christie, Spirit's President and Chief Executive Officer. "In addition, based on our current booking trends, we expect second quarter 2022 ticket revenue per segment to be significantly higher than it was in the second quarter 2019." 

"I also want to acknowledge and thank the entire Spirit team for their continued efforts to care for our Guests and each other. Late last year, we cut our planned capacity growth for 2022 in light of various staffing challenges and felt very good about our ability to operate the revised summer schedule. However, the airline industry has been impacted by an increase in Air Traffic Control ("ATC") programs and restrictions in Florida, largely driven by ATC staffing shortages. This has had an outsized impact on our operations given our large concentration in Florida. As a result, in mid-April, we made the decision to decrease some flying in Florida and increase the buffers in our schedule, which drove additional capacity reductions. We expect to resume our planned capacity levels in the fourth quarter this year due to already-planned crew network changes set to deploy this summer and increased pilot hiring that has been happening throughout the year."

The Company believes that providing analysis of financial and operational performance compared to first quarter 2019 is a more relevant measure of performance than comparing to first quarter 2021 due to the severe impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company's financial results and operational performance for 2021.

First Quarter 2022 Results
For the first quarter 2022, Spirit Airlines reported a net loss of $194.7 million, or a net loss of $1.79 per diluted share. Excluding special items, adjusted net loss for the first quarter 2022 was $173.5 million¹, or an adjusted net loss of $1.60 per diluted share¹.

Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter 2022 was negative $108.2 million and adjusted EBITDA margin was negative 11.2 percent.

Capacity and Load Factor
Capacity, or available seat miles ("ASMs"), in the first quarter 2022 increased 19.2 percent compared to the same period in 2019. Load factor for the first quarter 2022 was 77.2 percent, down 5.5 percentage points compared to the first quarter 2019. Load factors improved sequentially throughout the quarter such that the exit rate for March load factor was in line with the Company's historical averages.

Aircraft utilization in the first quarter 2022 was 10.8 hours, down 11.5 percent compared to the 12.2 hours in the same period of 2019.

Revenue Performance  
Total operating revenues for the first quarter 2022 were $967.3 million, an increase of 13.0 percent versus first quarter 2019 due to increased flight volume and higher operating yields. Total revenue per ASM ("TRASM") was down 5.3 percent compared to first quarter 2019. However, TRASM for March 2022 was higher than March 2019 and this was accomplished while growing capacity 17.1 percent in March 2022 compared to March 2019.

On a per passenger flight segment basis, for the first quarter 2022 total revenue per passenger flight segment ("segment") increased 3.9 percent compared to the same period in 2019 to $113.72. Compared to first quarter 2019, fare revenue per segment decreased 7.6 percent to $49.19 and non-ticket revenue per segment increased 14.8 percent to $64.53².

Cost Performance
Compared to the first quarter 2019, total GAAP operating expenses for the first quarter 2022 increased 53.5 percent to $1,178.8 million. Adjusted operating expenses for the first quarter 2022 increased 50.3 percent compared to the first quarter 2019 to $1,151.7 million³. In addition to increased flight volume, these increases were primarily driven by pressure on labor rates and higher fuel prices.

Spirit continues to experience labor cost inflation throughout much of the organization, including for contracted ground service workers (recorded within other operating expense in the Company's condensed consolidated statement of operations). In addition, as a result of the Omicron variant's impact on the Company's staffing levels in early January 2022, the Company offered various incentive pay programs during this period in order to maintain sufficient staffing to minimize flight cancellations, leading to additional wage pressures. 

Rising fuel prices were also a primary contributor to increased costs. Fuel price per gallon in the first quarter 2022 was 41.1 percent higher than for the same period in 2019.

"Our strong non-ticket production plus the forward booking curve strength gives us confidence we will see strong yields this summer. However, operational disruptions and limits on utilization are causing delays in our return to profitability. The decision to further limit our capacity this summer does make profitability more challenging in the short run. With constrained capacity levels through the summer, we will be carrying the cost of additional crews and our utilization will be lower than we like, but this does not change the plan to exit the year at close to full utilization and be on our way to a return to a more normalized run rate in 2023. In fact, at these demand levels, even with fuel at more than $100 a barrel, we would have expected to be profitable in the second quarter with around 90 percent of our pre-covid utilization," said Scott Haralson, Spirit's Chief Financial Officer.

Fleet
Spirit took delivery of three new A320neo aircraft during the first quarter 2022. The Company ended the quarter with 176 aircraft in its fleet.

Liquidity and Capital Deployment
Spirit ended first quarter 2022 with unrestricted cash, cash equivalents, short-term investment securities and liquidity available under the Company's revolving credit facility of $1.6 billion.

Total capital expenditures, including net pre-delivery purchase deposits for the three months ended March 31, 2022 were $53.2 million, primarily related to the purchase of spare parts, including one spare engine.

Tax Rate
On a GAAP basis, the Company's effective tax rate for the first quarter 2022 was 20.2 percent. The Company's non-GAAP tax rate for the first quarter 2022 was 20.0 percent.

Forward Looking Guidance
The second quarter and full year 2022 guidance items provided below are based on the Company's current estimates and are not a guarantee of future performance. There could be significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including the risk factors discussed in the Company's reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Spirit undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements or estimates.

Adjusted operating expenses and adjusted pre-tax margin are non-GAAP financial measures, which are provided on a forward-looking basis. The Company does not provide a reconciliation of non-GAAP forward-looking measures on a forward-looking basis where the Company believes such reconciliation would imply a degree of precision and certainty that could be confusing to investors and is unable to reasonably predict certain items included in/excluded from the GAAP financial measures without unreasonable efforts. This is due to the inherent difficulty of forecasting the timing or amount of various items that have not yet occurred and are out of the Company's control or cannot be reasonably predicted. For the same reasons, the Company is unable to address the probable significance of the unavailable information. Non-GAAP forward-looking measures provided without the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures may vary materially from the corresponding GAAP financial measures.

First Quarter 2022 Highlights

• In February 2022, for the fourth year in a row, Spirit was awarded the FAA's highest award for Technical Training, the Diamond Award of Excellence. This award is only achieved if 100% of technicians receive the FAA's Aircraft Maintenance Technician ("AMT") Certificate of Training

• Launched its partnership with the nation's largest flight school, Jacksonville-based ATP Flight School. This new program will expand the carrier's pipeline of highly skilled, professional pilots. It also provides graduates with the fastest track to a successful career as a Spirit pilot

• Announced the addition of new Pilot and Flight Attendant bases at Miami International Airport (MIA) and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) 

• Completed its terminal move at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) to the historic Marine Air Terminal

• Hosted the Spirit Open with Team Members, aviation industry professionals and community leaders joining together to help The Spirit Charitable Foundation raise more than $1.5 million for nonprofit organizations

Conference Call/Webcast Detail
Spirit will conduct a conference call to discuss these results tomorrow, May 5, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern US Time. A live audio webcast of the conference call will be available to the public on a listen-only basis at http://ir.spirit.com. An archive of the webcast will be available under "Events & Presentations" for 60 days.

Merger Agreement with Frontier
As previously announced, Spirit Airlines, Inc. entered into a merger agreement with Frontier Group Holdings, Inc. on February 5, 2022. The merger is expected to close in the second half of 2022, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including completion of the regulatory review process and approval by Spirit stockholders.

About Spirit Airlines
Spirit Airlines (NYSE: SAVE) is committed to delivering the best value in the sky. We are the leader in providing customizable travel options starting with an unbundled fare. This allows our Guests to pay only for the options they choose — like bags, seat assignments and refreshments — something we call À La Smarte. We make it possible for our Guests to venture further and discover more than ever before. Our Fit Fleet® is one of the youngest and most fuel-efficient in the U.S. We serve destinations throughout the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean and are dedicated to giving back and improving those communities. Come save with us at spirit.com.

Investors are encouraged to read the Company's periodic and current reports filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K, for additional information regarding the Company.

End Notes

Forward Looking Statements
Forward-Looking Statements in this report and certain oral statements made from time to time by representatives of the Company contain various forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act") which are subject to the "safe harbor" created by those sections. Forward-looking statements are based on our management's beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to our management. All statements other than statements of historical facts are "forward-looking statements" for purposes of these provisions. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as "may," "will," "should," "could," "would," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "project," "predict," "potential," and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, guidance for 2022 and statements regarding the Company's intentions and expectations regarding revenues, cash burn, capacity and passenger demand, additional financing, capital spending, operating costs and expenses, taxes, EBITDA, EBITDA margin, hiring, aircraft deliveries and stakeholders, vendors and government support. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results and the timing of certain events to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors include, among others, the extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company's business, results of operations and financial condition, and the extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on overall demand for air travel, restrictions on the Company's business by accepting financing under the CARES Act and other related legislation, the competitive environment in our industry, our ability to keep costs low and the impact of worldwide economic conditions, including the impact of economic cycles or downturns on customer travel behavior, the consummation of the merger with Frontier and other factors, as described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the detailed factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. Furthermore, such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements. Risks or uncertainties (i) that are not currently known to us, (ii) that we currently deem to be immaterial, or (iii) that could apply to any company, could also materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, or future results. Additional information concerning certain factors is contained in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K.

The Company does not provide a reconciliation of forward-looking measures on a forward-looking basis where the Company believes such reconciliation would imply a degree of precision and certainty that could be confusing to investors and is unable to reasonably predict certain items included in/excluded from the non-GAAP financial measures without unreasonable efforts. This is due to the inherent difficulty of forecasting the timing or amount of various items that have not yet occurred and are out of the Company's control or cannot be reasonably predicted. For the same reasons, the Company is unable to address the probable significance of the unavailable information. Non-GAAP forward-looking measures provided without the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures may vary materially from the corresponding GAAP financial measures.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The Company evaluates its financial performance utilizing various accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP") and non-GAAP financial measures, including Adjusted operating expenses, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted operating income (loss), Adjusted operating margin, Adjusted pre-tax income (loss), Adjusted pre-tax margin, Adjusted net income (loss), Adjusted diluted earnings (loss) per share and Adjusted CASM. These non-GAAP financial measures are provided as supplemental information to the financial information presented in this press release that is calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP and these non-GAAP financial measures are presented because management believes that they supplement or enhance management's, analysts' and investors' overall understanding of the Company's underlying financial performance and trends and facilitate comparisons among current, past and future periods.

Because the non-GAAP financial measures are not calculated in accordance with GAAP, they should not be considered superior to and are not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the related GAAP financial measures presented in the press release and may not be the same as or comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies due to possible differences in the method of calculation and in the items being adjusted. We encourage investors to review our financial statements and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission in their entirety and not to rely on any single financial measure.

The information below provides an explanation of certain adjustments reflected in the non-GAAP financial measures and shows a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures reported in this press release (other than forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures) to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. Within the financial tables presented, certain columns and rows may not add due to the use of rounded numbers. Per unit amounts presented are calculated from the underlying amounts.

The Company believes that adjusting for special charges (credits), gains and losses on disposal of assets, costs associated with accelerated asset retirements is useful to investors because these items are not indicative of the Company's ongoing performance and the adjustments are similar to those made by our peers and allow for enhanced comparability to other airlines. In prior periods, we excluded supplemental rent adjustments related to the modification of aircraft or engine leases from our non-GAAP measures. However, we no longer exclude supplemental rent adjustments and, as such, non-GAAP measures for 2021, 2020, and 2019 have been revised to reflect this change and no longer exclude any previously reported supplemental rent adjustments.

Operating expenses per available seat mile ("CASM") is a common metric used in the airline industry to measure an airline's cost structure and efficiency. We exclude aircraft fuel and related taxes and special items from operating expenses to determine Adjusted CASM ex-fuel. We also believe that excluding fuel costs from certain measures is useful to investors because it provides an additional measure of management's performance excluding the effects of a significant cost item over which management has limited influence and increases comparability with other airlines that also provide a similar metric.

SOURCE Spirit Airlines, Inc.