American Airlines on Thursday reported a profitable second quarter as the easing of the Covid-19 pandemic led to record earnings despite the impact of higher fuel costs.
The major US airline said its first profitable quarter since the pandemic began was due to operations rather than government support programs.
Earnings were $476 million compared to just $19 million in the same period last year.
Revenue rose about 80 percent to $13.4 billion, the highest in the company’s history. Kerosene costs were more than double what they were in the 2021 period.
Expensive tickets have fueled the surge. From April to June, revenue exceeded the previous quarter’s 2019 quarter by 12 percent, although capacity was 8.5 percent lower.
American signaled the trend will continue in the third quarter, when it expects revenue to be 10 to 12 percent above 2019 levels on an 8 to 10 percent decline in capacity.
Leisure travel remains above pre-pandemic levels, while American also saw improvements in both business travel and international bookings, Chief Executive Officer Robert Isom said in a letter to employees.
“Our collective focus has been to ensure American Airlines can benefit from the ongoing recovery, and the second quarter is proof that our actions are delivering positive results,” Isom said.
“There’s no better endorsement of this than reporting our first quarterly earnings since the pandemic began.”
Shares fell 3.2 percent to $14.73 in premarket trading.
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