After a 2020 in which American Airlines saw billions in losses, the company has gone from losing $100million a day at the worst of the pandemic to making $1million a day, according to a quarterly investor update on Tuesday.
Still, the nation's largest airline is projecting a $1.3billion operating loss for the entire period.
'While that is certainly a large loss, it is our smallest such loss since the start of the pandemic,' Chief Executive Officer Doug Parker said.
In 2020, the company saw a total operating loss of $10.4billion for the year.
News of the turnaround saw shares of American, which have jumped nearly 27% in 2021, rise 2% to $20.43 in extended trade.
American Airlines' turnaround comes as people are returning to the skies, with the airline reporting 44million passengers for its second quarter. Travelers are seen lining up at O'Hare airport in Chicago on July 2
The company flew more than 44 million passengers in the first quarter, more than five times higher than last year, and forecast a daily cash build of $1 million for the period, ending it with more than $21 billion of total available liquidity.
'The improved liquidity is encouraging because it suggests that forward bookings are also strong,' Cowen analyst Helane Becker said.
'This suggests we turned the corner in the domestic market and we should see improving sequential quarter results.'
Earnings per share also have seen a steady improvement from a low of negative $7.82 at the worst of the pandemic to negative $4.32 at the end of the first quarter, with analysts projecting a near return to positive earnings by the end of 2021, according to Marketbeat.
While the analysts said it was an encouraging sign, it's still a far cry from 2019, when the company posted a $3.1billion profit.
News of the turnaround saw shares of American Airlines, which have jumped nearly 27% in 2021, rise 2% to $20.43 in extended trade
American still has a ways to go to return to the profitability it saw before the pandemic, with the company posting a total loss of $10.4billion for 2020
Earnings per share also have seen a steady improvement from a low of negative $7.82 at the worst of the pandemic to negative $4.32 at the end of the first quarter, with analysts projecting a near return to positive earnings by the end of 2021
Back then, however, the company did not report its daily profits.
American also 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.
American's good news came as Delta Air Lines reported its first quarterly profit since the pandemic devastated the airline industry more than a year ago.
Delta said Wednesday that it earned $652million in the second quarter. However, Delta's
