Alaska Air posted a second-quarter loss on a fuel spike, and says it turned profitable again in June

Alaska Air Group lost money in the second quarter. Fuel is why.

The carrier reported a GAAP net loss of $76m, or $0.68 a share, in a Form 8-K exhibit filed July 21. On the adjusted basis the company steers investors toward, the loss was wider, at $102m, or $0.92 a share. That ordering is worth noting. Special items lifted the reported number, so the cleaner measure of the quarter was the worse one, and the adjusted loss still came in ahead of the roughly $1.00 a share the company had guided.

Revenue did the work it was supposed to. Total revenue grew 10 percent year over year to $4.1bn on capacity up 1.0 percent, with unit revenue up 8.6 percent. Economic fuel cost was $4.43 a gallon, below the $4.50 the company had expected but far above a year earlier, and Chief Executive Ben Minicucci called the result "defined by a fuel spike outside our control." Historic rainstorms in Hawaii in March cut system unit revenue by about 3 points in the quarter, modestly more than the 2 points first expected.

Minicucci said the company returned to profitability in June, led the industry in year-to-date on-time performance, and completed the last major milestone of its Hawaiian Airlines integration by reaching a single passenger service system. Air Group launched transatlantic flying from Seattle to Rome, London and Reykjavik during the quarter. For the third quarter, the company guided unit revenue to double-digit growth year over year.