AirTran posts much wider 4Q loss

[January 28, 2009]  ATLANTA, Ga. (AP) -- AirTran Holdings Inc., parent of discount carrier AirTran Airways, lost $118.4 million in the fourth quarter, as it took a hit from bad bets on fuel hedges. It also posted a loss for 2008, its first annual loss since 1999.

Orlando, Fla.-based AirTran says its net loss for the October-December period was equivalent to $1 a share, compared to a loss of $2.2 million, or 2 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, expected AirTran to post a fourth-quarter loss of 3 cents per share. Analysts' projections generally exclude one-time items.

Revenue in the quarter rose 1 percent to $589.4 million.

[Associated Press; By HARRY R. WEBER]

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