More Trouble for JetBlue

Updated from 9:51 a.m. EST

Flight operations at JetBlue(JBLU Quote - Cramer on JBLU - Stock Picks) were normal Tuesday for the first time in a week, but the airline took a hit on Wall Street.

Shares, hurt by negative comments from analysts, fell 4.9% to $12.90. Meanwhile, on a conference call with reporters, CEO David Neeleman estimated the impact of the carrier's six-day storm-related operational meltdown at about $30 million.

He said JetBlue issued $10 million in refunds and $16 million in credits to passengers and had $4 million in incremental expenses, such as overtime and costs for chartered aircraft. Still, JetBlue will be profitable in 2007, he said, noting that this "is just one quarter."

Analysts agreed with the full-year projection, but they took a dim short-term view.

"We believe the stock will be dead money for the next few months," said William Greene of Morgan Stanley, who estimated a first-quarter loss of 16 cents a share. "Operational challenges over the past week are likely to negatively impact revenue growth, cost initiatives and earnings momentum," he wrote.

Morgan Stanley provides JetBlue with investment-banking services and owns more than 1% of its shares. The firm downgraded JetBlue to equal-weight from overweight.

Analyst Ray Neidl of Calyon Securities estimated a 14-cent first-quarter loss and said JetBlue may slow projected growth. The carrier "may have been too aggressive in cutting unit costs, which may have left its resources stretched too thin for emergency situations," he wrote.

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