Higher passenger yields, return of business traffic shrink USAir loss

US Airways Group Inc posted a narrowed quarterly loss on Tuesday on higher passenger yields and the return of business traffic.

The company said its first-quarter net loss amounted to $45 million, or 28 cents per share, compared with a loss of $103 million, or 90 cents per share, a year before.

Excluding one-time items, the company lost 55 cents per share, compared with a Wall Street consensus forecast for a loss of 71 cents per share.

The carrier reported $44 million in special items. US Airways said it lost $30 million in revenue during February as a result of the severe winter storms on the East Coast.

The airline industry is recovering from an economic downturn that has drained travel demand.

The carrier said its revenue gained 8 percent to $2.65 billion, slightly above the $2.63 billion analysts had expected. US Airways ended the quarter with an unrestricted cash and investments balance of $1.6 billion, up $100 million from the end of 2009.