AirTran Holdings, parent of AirTran Airways, said it expects to be profitable in each quarter of 2009 based on fuel prices at current levels.

The company also said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday that softening consumer demand would be offset by capacity cuts and strong growth in ancillary revenue.

AirTran said it expects first-quarter passenger unit revenue to fall between 2.5 percent and 5.5 percent. It sees total unit revenue in a range of up 1 percent to down 2 percent.

Also on Tuesday, AirTran said it would increase capacity and expand its operations in Milwaukee by more than 40 percent.