𝙰𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝙴𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚌𝚜: 𝚂𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝙴𝚊𝚜𝚢
It's still no fun to be an airline operator.
That was the short version of the update that American Airlines gave investors as the company reported a $780m operating loss for the last quarter of 2021, which is visualized above. That is the 8th quarterly operating loss that American Airlines has reported in a row.
The impact of the pandemic can't be overstated. Passenger numbers are still down 20-30% relative to 2019, and although some costs (like aircraft fuel, landing fees and maintenance) have come down, it's been nowhere near enough to compensate. Salaries and wages or the depreciation of assets that are getting older, are a lot harder to quickly reduce.
The latest thorn in the airline's side has been crew cancellations and bad weather. Over the 2 weeks starting Dec 25th, American Airlines had to cancel almost 1,500 flights.
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚛 | 𝙳𝚊𝚝𝚊 𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐
