“We are very pleased to report a quarterly profit, excluding net special items, for the first time since the start of the pandemic, driven by the strong demand environment and the hard work of our team,” said American’s CEO Robert Isom.
“The American Airlines team has stepped up to meet the surge in demand for air travel while running a reliable operation in very challenging conditions. We are encouraged by the trends we’re seeing across the business, and we remain well-positioned for the continued recovery.”
Running a reliable operation
In terms of total departures, American’s schedule in the second quarter was more than 25% greater than that of its nearest rival. With an average load factor of 87 percent, which is 10 points higher than the second quarter of 2021, American and its regional partners operated more than 500,000 flights in the quarter, an 8 percent increase over that period in 2021.
American’s on-time departure rate, on-time arrival rate, and completion factor for the second quarter of 2022 all increased compared to the second quarter of 2019 despite a difficult operating environment in June.
With a projected average of more than 5,400 daily departures for the duration of the summer, American is thrilled to offer customers the youngest fleet among U.S. network airlines and the largest network of any U.S. airline.
Returning to profitability
In the second quarter, American generated revenues of $13.4 billion, a record for any quarter in company history and a 12.2 percent raise over 2019.
To the extent that business and international travel conditions continue to improve, there is a substantial revenue opportunity moving forward.
To the extent that business and international travel conditions continue to improve, there is a substantial revenue opportunity moving forward.
The second quarter of 2019 saw domestic leisure travel surpass 2019 levels, and American also experienced increases in corporate and government income. Domestic leisure travel is still quite strong overall.
After the COVID-19 testing requirement for foreign travelers entering the United States was removed, demand for international travel also gradually increased during the second quarter, and the business anticipates this trend to continue.
Liquidity and balance sheet
American had $15.6 billion in total liquid assets at the end of the second quarter. The company’s top aim is still total debt reduction, and it is still on schedule to lower total debt by $15 billion by the end of 2025.
The company paid out the remaining $433 million of its $750 million unsecured senior notes that matured in June as part of its $1.0 billion in second-quarter scheduled debt and finance lease payments. American has already cut its total debt by $5.2 billion since the second quarter of 2021 when it peaked.
