US airline 2Q profit margins leap; Alaska, Allegiant, Southwest lead the way

The US airline industry is well into recovery, with Department of Transportation statistics revealing network airlines' profit margin in the second quarter of 2010 was the largest since the second quarter of 2007. To further the point, the combined profit margin for the network, low-cost and regional carrier groups was the highest since the Department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) began issuing quarterly airline financial numbers in 2002.