Happy days: More airlines report hefty third-quarter profits

The good news about airline earnings continued today, with United-Continental, Southwest and JetBlue all reporting profits. The industry roared back this summer from last year's recession, attracting more business travelers paying higher fares, raising leisure fares sharply as well, and not adding new capacity or seats for sale that it couldn't sell. Fuel costs, while inching up recently, have also been stable. Rarely in the past, in fact very rarely, have those things all come together at the same time. Here is a good roundup from thestreet.com that relates Wall Street's happy reaction yesterday.

Reporting today in a joint announcement, United made $473 million in the third quarter and Continental had net income of $367 million. The airlines reported jointly under the United Continental Holdings Co. name as they prepare to fully merge. Among the other major carriers, JetBlue made $59 million and Southwest $195 million, both of them third-quarter records.