Fewer empty seats made the difference in the last three months as revenue set a record.

Airlines successfully raised fares five times last year but have struggled to do so lately. Two attempts led by United Airlines this month failed after other airlines did not match the increases. For US Airways, one measure of fares, called passenger yield, the average fare paid per mileage, declined slightly in the fourth quarter.

The US Airways president, Scott Kirby, noted that full planes and improved demand typically lead to fare increases. There were fewer empty seats in the final quarter of 2012 — occupancy rose 2 percentage points to 83.9 percent. January bookings are up 8 percent from a year ago, Mr. Kirby said.

“While it’s taking some time, I expect that this strong environment will lead to improving yields across the industry,” Mr. Kirby said in a conference call with analysts.

Even without higher fares, having more passengers increased US Airways profits. Revenue for each seat flown one mile — an important performance indicator for airlines — rose 2.2 percent. US Airways’ net income for the quarter was $37 million, or 22 cents a share, compared with $18 million, or 11 cents a share a year earlier. Excluding onetime items, net income was 26 cents per share, 7 cents higher than analyst forecasts, according to FactSet.

Revenue rose 3.9 percent compared with a year earlier, to $3.28 billon.

US Airways is in merger talks with American Airlines, but it did not discuss the topic on Wednesday, citing a nondisclosure agreement. American and its parent, the AMR Corporation, have been operating under bankruptcy protection since November 2011. Last week AMR reported a loss for the fourth quarter, excluding onetime items, of $88 million, an improvement of $121 million from a year earlier.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/24/business/us-airways-reports-sharply-higher-profits.html?partner=rss&emc=rss