U.S. Airlines Are Packing Planes and Rolling in Record Profits

Curious how U.S. airlines just managed to boost domestic fares by $10 even as Ebola threatened to scare off travelers and declining oil prices seemed to undercut the rationale for higher fares? Take a closer look at the big carriers’ financial reports from the summer travel period.

Planes are packed and will likely get even fuller, while higher fares haven’t put a dent in demand for plane tickets. In other words: We really like to fly, and it shows. This is especially true in the U.S., where airlines have been able to align seat supply with demand much more closely than in the international market. American Airlines, United Continental, Southwest Airlines, and JetBlue Airways all reported record quarterly profits on Thursday, a week after Delta Air Lines said it cleared $1 billion in the third quarter. “The overall theme is that demand was strong, the revenue environment was good, and that costs are declining,” Standard & Poor’s analyst Jim Corridore said in an e-mail.