Republic’s quarterly financial results slip, as expected

Republic Airways Holdings Inc. hit the mark late last month when it warned investors that second quarter financial results would be worse than expected due to an ongoing labor dispute with pilots.

The Indianapolis-based company issued official results Thursday evening that weren't far off the preliminary numbers released July 27.

The company also announced the appointment of an acting chief operating officer.

Republic reported a second-quarter profit of $4.3 million, or 8 cents per share, compared with $20.1 million, or 38 cents per share, in the same quarter of 2014.

Operating revenue was $337.6 million, down 1.6 percent from a year ago.

The results were far off those contained in Republic's May outlook, when it predicted a second-quarter profit of 20 cents to 30 cents per share on operating revenue in the range of $345 million to $355 million.

"The second quarter 2015 financial results were negatively impacted by a significant reduction in operational reliability," Republic said Thursday in a written statement. "The company's controllable completion factor and operating revenues were significantly lower than expected due to a high number of pilot-related cancellations as a result of the growing national pilot labor shortage and our ongoing labor dispute with International Brotherhood of Teamsters."

Also on Thursday, Republic announced the hiring of Paul Kinstedt as acting COO. Kinstedt joined the company in January 2002 as director of systems operations control. He was most recently vice president of flight operations.

Kinstedt's hiring was one of several upper-management moves the company has made in recent days.

Republic shares fell 55 percent after the company issued its July 27 warning. Shares rebounded somewhat later in the week, but have since fallen again.

The stock fell 15.8 percent, to $3.79 per share, on Thursday before financial results were announced. The shares have fallen 74 percent since the beginning of the year.