American Airlines Group Inc (AAL)

[KingDMC]

Doug Parker, the chief executive, said consolidation and capacity discipline have transformed the industry so that the level of earnings is much higher, volatility is diminished and the issues airlines worry about are less dramatic than in past years that were marked by wild swings in profitability and market-share wars.

"We'll prove it in the next downturn," he said on the call.

American earned $932 million, or $1.30 a share, compared with year-earlier profit of $480 million, or 65 cents a share. Excluding $311 million in special charges, profit was $1.2 billion, beating analysts' estimate by two cents a share, triple the year-ago results excluding one-time credits. Revenue declined 1.7% to $9.8 billion, but costs were also down 7.1%, helped by a 43% reduction in American's fuel bill. Unit revenue declined 1.7% on nearly flat capacity.

For the second quarter, a seasonally stronger period, American plans to boost its capacity by 2.1%, a bit less than the gains foreseen by United and Delta. The company didn't break out the growth by domestic and international, but said it saw "softness" in Latin American markets in the just-ended quarter. Mr. Kirby, the president, said Argentina "appears to be recovering," but American is encountering large unit-revenue declines in Brazil.