American Airlines forecasts better-than-expected 2Q results

FORT WORTH, TEXAS >> American Airlines said today it expects to report roughly break-even results for the second quarter thanks to $1.4 billion in special items, mostly federal pandemic aid that covered most of the airline’s payroll costs.

Without the federal relief, however, the airline said it will post an adjusted loss of up to $1.2 billion for the April-through-June period. That will be its smallest adjusted loss since the pandemic started, reflecting rising passenger traffic and revenue.

American said that second-quarter revenue will be about 37.5% lower than during the same period of 2019, slightly better than the airline had previously forecast.

“We are clearly moving in the right direction,” CEO Doug Parker and President Robert Isom said in a note to employees. “Our revenue and expense performance in the quarter came in better than expectations, and this was achieved while bringing the operation back up to full capacity and safely transporting a record number of travelers.”

American said in a regulatory filing that it expects to report something between a loss of $35 million and a profit of $25 million for the second quarter. That includes the taxpayer-funded pandemic aid.

Companies and analysts usually strip out unusual gains and expenses to arrive at an adjusted profit or loss per share. American said its adjusted loss will be between $1.67 and $1.76 per share, which is much better than the adjusted loss of $2.45 per share that Wall Street expects, according to a FactSet survey of 18 analysts.

Shares of Fort Worth-based American fell nearly 4% during the regular session Tuesday but rose nearly 2% in extended trading after the regulatory filing.

It is due to report its second-quarter results on July 22.