Chris Cooper and Kiyotaka Matsuda, writing for Bloomberg:
JR Central had free cash flow, or money from operations minus capital spending, of $2.95 billion in the fiscal year ended March. That compares with $2.42 billion at Union Pacific Corp. (UNP), the largest U.S. railroad by sales, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The Japanese company, whose bullet trains carried more passengers last year than any airline in the world, predicts net income will rise 11 percent to 222 billion yen this fiscal year. It has made a profit every year since it was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1997.
Meanwhile, U.S. airlines barely kept their heads above water.
A4A’s report profiles the 10 airlines that reported full-year 2012 results—Alaska, Allegiant, American, Delta, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Southwest, Spirit, United and US Airways—for a combined $152 million net profit.