2005年NPR美国国家公共电台七月-Continental, American Report Profits

Two airlines Continental¹ and American are reporting something pretty rare in the airline industry lately--- profits. American Airlines, the nation's largest carrier announced yesterday that it had net earnings² of 58 million dollars in its most recent quarter. Continental did even better posting a 100-million-dollar profit during the spring months. The move toward profitability comes even as the industry grapples with record fuel prices. NPR's Jack³ Speer reports.

If you've flown anytime over the past several months, you've probably noticed the lines at the airport ticket counter and a lack of empty seats once you are onboard your flight. Industry analyst⁴ Robert Maine says the combination of packed planes and aggressive cost control is starting to pay off, especially for some of the more disciplined airlines.

"American and Continental are the two carriers that're furthest along in their restructuring process, and so they are getting the maximum benefits of cost control."
Passenger traffic is up across the board at the airlines. Maine says what's helping⁵ American and Continental is that they took steps to rearrange their routes and now fly a higher percentage of international flights.

Some of the strongest revenue growth rates are actually the international segment. For a couple of years now, carriers are redeploying assets out of domestic network service, and deploying⁶ them on the international routes, and that is bearing fruit now."

And when they fly those international routes, they aren't competing with discount carriers like Southwest. But even with demand picking up and cost cuts in place, it is important to remember that neither of these airlines is talking about making a profit on the year. R* an analysts⁷ with * Securities says unless fuel prices come down and stay down, the traditional carriers still face plenty of challenges.

Long-term,the problem remains⁸ high fuel cost, too many airlines, too many hubs, too many seats and continuing pricing pressure as the low cost carriers continue to aggressively expand.

Delta⁹ Airlines which has been hemorrhaging money this week announced a major shake-up in its top management. And in Northwest talks between the airline and its mechanic's union appeared to have collapsed¹⁰, setting the stage for a possible strike in that airline next month.
Jack Speer NPR news Washington.

1 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

2 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

3 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

4 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

7 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

10 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。