ABSTRACT

This chapter provides an understanding of airline financial statements. The statements are the profit and loss or income statement, the balance sheet, and the cash flow statement. The chapter explains how to make use of the published results of this system at a more general level. Cathay Pacific only reports the Group profit and loss account and cash flow statement, which includes the parent company and any subsidiary controlled by the parent. United States (US) Airways' aircraft fuel costs can be seen to have risen by 41 per cent in 2010, with no help or hindrance from profits or losses on fuel hedging positions. The presentation of Lufthansa's group consolidated income statement has less detail in the main statement than either Cathay Pacific or US Airways but most of the same information can be found in footnotes. The balance sheet shows what the airline owes as liabilities, and what the airline owns as assets.