BTS out with Q42013 and full year 2013 data

U.S. scheduled passenger airlines reported a net profit of $7.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013, up from a loss of $188 million in the fourth quarter of 2012, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today in a release of preliminary data. The 26 scheduled service airlines reported an after-tax net profit for the third consecutive quarter. In addition to the after-tax net profit based on net income reports, the scheduled service passenger airlines reported a $2.7 billion pre-tax operating profit in the fourth quarter of 2013, up from $557 million profit in the