High-Flying AirCal Shows $8.5-Million Profit in ’84

AirCal Inc, the once-struggling Newport Beach-based airline, ended its dramatic turn-around year of 1984 with an $8.5-million profit, the company’s first annual profit since 1981. But fourth-quarter earnings, the company announced Monday, were below those of the same period a year earlier.

Net income for the 1984 fourth-quarter, ended Dec. 31, was $2.4 million, about 27% below the $3.3 million posted in the final period of 1983. Revenues for the 1984 quarter were $79.9 million, 28% higher than the $62.2 million recorded in 1983.

AirCal officials explained that quarterly profits dipped below those of a year ago only because the company set aside $3.9 million of its earnings for employees who voluntarily accepted 10% wage cuts in January, 1983, when the airline was awash in red ink.

AirCal’s 1984 profit was a substantial improvement from the $2.9-million loss in 1983. Revenues for the year were $303.9 million, 27% higher than the $239 million collected the year before.

The 1984 performance, one of the airline’s best ever, clearly delighted William Lyon, the air carrier’s chairman, president and chief executive.

“Our 1984 financial performance reflects a continuation of AirCal’s dramatic turnaround,” Lyon said in a prepared statement. “We have reported six consecutive quarters of profitability . . . and we boarded more passengers than any year in our history.”

As a result of the higher revenues, the airline accumulated a total of $11.6 million in its employee “pay-back” account in 1984, more than 90% of the fund’s goal of $12.9 million. Disbursement to employees will begin later this year, perhaps as early as April.

Company officials said the airline will continue to make contributions to the fund until its obligations are met.

Last month the airline, which serves 13 cities in California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, reported record passenger boardings in 1984 of nearly 4 million passengers, the highest in its 18-year history. The company set a new monthly passenger boarding record for all 12 months of 1984.