American Airlines parent reports rough 2nd quarter
DALLAS — American Airlines parent AMR Corp. lost more money in the second quarter as fewer people got on its planes and those who did paid lower fares than a year ago.
AMR’s revenue plunged 21 percent from the same period in 2008, swamping the savings reaped from lower jet fuel prices. Still, American raised more money from extra fees on baggage and other items, and the financial results weren’t as bad as Wall Street had feared.
AMR said Wednesday that it lost $390 million, or $1.39 per share. Excluding charges related to the sale and grounding of planes, it would have lost $319 million, or $1.14 per share. Analysts had predicted a loss excluding charges of $1.28 per share.
In the same quarter last year, AMR lost $1.46 billion, or $5.83 per share, mostly for writing down the value of its fleet. Without the charges, the year-ago loss was $298 million.
Revenue fell to $4.89 billion, a decline of nearly $1.3 billion from a year ago.
The revenue slide is likely to continue into the fall. AMR officials said bookings through September are running about 1 health insurance companies.5 percent of available seats behind last year’s pace — especially troubling because American has cut the supply of seats.
On the positive side, Chief Financial Officer Tom Horton said business travel "seems to have leveled off" after a sharp drop late last year and early this year. But it remains "sharply lower" than 12 months ago.
Fort Worth-based AMR was the first major airline to report results for the second quarter, usually a good one for travel. But many companies have reduced travel due to the recession, and that’s hurting the airlines.
"The challenges for our industry and company have continued throughout 2009," said Chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey. When asked how long airlines could go on losing money before they’d be forced into bankruptcy protection, he replied: "Not forever."
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