American Airlines Shares Rise on Carrier’s Better Second Quarter Forecast



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The American Airlines flight takes off from Miami, Florida.

Marco Bello | Reuters

American Airlines shares rose after the carrier forecast better earnings and a smaller than expected loss for the second quarter, the latest sign that airlines are recovering from the coronavirus pandemic’s toll on travel.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier said Tuesday it expects to post “slight” profit before tax for the second quarter. He said he would likely release results ranging from a net loss of $ 35 million to a net profit of $ 25 million for the three months ended June 30. Excluding special net items, he expects a net loss of up to $ 1.2 billion and an adjusted return on loss of shares of between $ 1.67 and $ 1.76. This compares to analysts’ estimates of $ 2.44 per share.

“We are clearly moving in the right direction,” CEO Doug Parker and Chairman Robert Isom said in a staff note.

US action was up nearly 2% on Tuesday after the market.

Air travel has rebounded strongly since the spring, when Covid-19 vaccines spread widely in the United States and authorities lifted restrictions that closed attractions from indoor restaurants to theme parks.

American said it carried 44 million passengers in the second quarter, an 82% increase from the first three months of 2021, but still below 2019 levels.

Revenue for the quarter ended last month was likely 37.5% lower than in the same period of 2019, when it generated $ 11.96 billion, against an earlier estimate of a 40% decline.

American said it expects its daily cash rate to be around $ 1 million per day, the first positive quarter since the pandemic began.

American airlines have at times struggled to keep up with the rapidly increasing demand for travel.

Since March 2020, airlines have set aside $ 54 billion in federal wage support in exchange for not laying off workers, American and its competitors have encouraged thousands of employees to take early retirement or leave l ‘last year. This has contributed to the staff shortages that have manifested themselves in some work groups such as customer service agents and pilots.

American, for its part, slashed its schedule for the first half of July by 1% and canceled flights last month in part due to a shortage of pilots or other trained and available personnel.

“Restoring service so quickly in response to unprecedented growth in demand is incredibly complex,” wrote Isom and Parker. “But the American people rise to the occasion, and the results prove it.”

The carrier is expected to publish its quarterly results on July 22 before the market opens.

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