Sun Country Airlines Reports Third Quarter 2025 Results

Sun Country Airlines Holdings, Inc. (“Sun Country Airlines,” “Sun Country,” the “Company”) (NASDAQ: SNCY) today reported financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2025.

“Sun Country is pleased to report our thirteenth consecutive profitable quarter with GAAP EPS of $0.03 and adjusted diluted EPS⁽²⁾ of $0.07,” said Jude Bricker, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sun Country. “The quarter marked a significant operational milestone as the company completed its cargo segment transformation. By September, we had deployed our full fleet of 20 freighter aircraft for Amazon, representing a 14% expansion in total operating aircraft compared to the beginning of the year. This achievement reflects the exceptional dedication and effort of our team. Beyond operational growth, we continued to return value to shareholders, completing $10 million in stock repurchases during the period while still retaining $15 million in share repurchase authority. These results underscore our ability to simultaneously grow operations, maintain profitability and reward shareholders.”

Overview of Third Quarter

 

 

 

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For the quarter ended September 30, 2025, Sun Country reported net income of $1.6 million and income before income tax of $2.2 million, on $255.5 million of revenue. Adjusted income before income tax⁽²⁾ for the quarter was $5.0 million. GAAP operating income during the quarter was $9.9 million, while adjusted operating income⁽²⁾ was $12.4 million, and GAAP operating margin was 3.9% and adjusted operating margin⁽²⁾ was 4.8%_.

“Our distinctive business strategy continued to deliver strong results in the third quarter, with the combination of cargo and charter operations reaching their highest revenue contribution since late 2020,” said Torque Zubeck, Chief Financial Officer. “Cargo and charter combined to generate 40% of our total revenue this quarter. This diversified revenue stream provides a stable foundation that has limited exposure to fuel price volatility – we view this as a key competitive advantage over our industry peers. In addition, our scheduled service business exhibited strong momentum throughout the quarter. August performance demonstrated improving demand, with average fares rising five percent year-over-year while load factors increased nearly three percentage points. September trends accelerated further, delivering nearly eight percent fare growth and load factor improvements exceeding three points compared to the prior year period.”

Notable Highlights

• In September, the Company launched the Sun Country Visa Signature^® credit card in partnership with Synchrony Bank. In addition, the Company introduced Sun Country Rewards Plus Status, a new tier designed to reward the airline’s most engaged loyalty members and cardholders.
• Repurchased 843,107 shares for approximately $10 million in the third quarter, with $15 million in share repurchase authorization remaining.
• Entered into a $108 million Term Loan Facility Agreement bearing interest at a fixed rate of 5.98% per annum. The Company drew down $54 million in September which was utilized to repay the 2023 term loan credit facility dated March 21, 2023, and refinance five Company-owned 737-900ER aircraft. The remaining $54 million must be drawn by the end of 2025.
• Torque Zubeck was appointed as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
• The Board appointed Wendy Schoppert to the Board of Directors, effective October 1, 2025.
• On September 9, the Company held its annual Plane Pull which raised more than $100,000 for Make-A-Wish Minnesota.

Capacity

System block hours flown during the third quarter of 2025 increased by 3.8% year-over-year. This was mainly due to the 33.7% increase in cargo block hours and the 11.1% increase in charter block hours. Scheduled service block hours decreased 10.9% to support the significant growth in cargo. Scheduled service ASMs are expected to decline year-over-year in the fourth quarter 2025 by approximately 8 to 9% as the Company annualizes cargo segment growth.

Revenue

The Company reported total revenue of $255.5 million for the third quarter, which was 2.4% greater than the third quarter of 2024. Scheduled service TRASM⁽³⁾ of 10.6 cents increased 1.6% year-over-year, while scheduled service ASMs decreased 10.2%. The third quarter 2025 total fare per scheduled passenger of $143 was higher than third quarter 2024 by 1.1%, while scheduled service load factor increased 0.6 percentage points during that same time period. The Company’s third quarter charter revenue was $58.7 million, a 15.6% year-over-year increase which exceeded the 11.1% increase in charter block hours.

In the third quarter of 2025, cargo revenue was $44 million, a 50.9% increase versus the third quarter of 2024, on a 33.7% increase in cargo block hours. This improvement was primarily driven by the increase in the number of cargo aircraft in service and the new Amazon contract rates which began to go into effect in June 2024.

Cost

Total GAAP operating expenses increased 3.6% year-over-year on a 3.8% increase in total block hours. Cost per available seat mile (CASM) in the third quarter increased 10.3% while adjusted CASM⁽⁴⁾ increased 5.2%. Unit costs are expected to remain elevated throughout the remainder of this year due to the reduction of scheduled service flying to allow for increased cargo flying. This will continue to put pressure on unit costs until the Company adds back scheduled service later in 2026. During the quarter, salaries, wages and benefits increased 15.0% year-over-year mainly due to growth in the number of pilots, a contractual pilot wage scale increase that occurred at the end of 2024 and the new flight attendant contract that went into effect in March 2025. Maintenance expense increased 13.5% year-over-year mainly due to the occurrence of unplanned maintenance events.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

Total liquidity⁽⁵⁾ was $299 million on September 30, 2025, while the Company’s net debt⁽⁶⁾ was $406 million.

Fleet

As of September 30, 2025, the Company had 45 aircraft in its passenger service fleet, 20 freighter aircraft in its cargo fleet and five aircraft on lease to unaffiliated airlines.

Guidance for Fourth Quarter 2025