An American Airlines passenger jet approaches to land at LAX during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Los Angeles, California, April 7, 2021.
Mike Blake | Reuters
American Airlines posted its highest revenue of the pandemic during the fourth quarter as bookings rose, but it still reported its second annual loss in a row during a volatile year.
“Over the past year, we have experienced periods of high travel demand countered by periods of decreased demand due to new COVID-19 variants,” American’s CEO Doug Parker, who steps down at the end of March, said in an earnings release. “This volatility has created the most challenging planning environment in the history of commercial aviation.”
American lost $931 million in the fourth quarter on revenue of $9.43 billion, which was down from $11.3 billion in sales in the last three months of 2019, before the pandemic. Adjusting for one-time items, American lost $1.42 a share, compared with analysts’ estimate of a $1.48 per-share loss.
For the first quarter, American expects revenue to be off 20% to 22% from the same period of 2019 when it generated $10.6 billion in sales. Capacity for the first three months will be 90% to 92% restored.
- Adjusted results per share: a loss of $1.42 versus an expected loss of $1.48
- Total revenue: $9.43 billion versus expected $9.38 billion.
American Airlines executives will discuss results on an 8:30 a.m. ET call Thursday.
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