American Airlines has returned to profit with a net income of $10 million for the first quarter of 2023, or $0.02 per diluted share, after revenue surged 37% year-on-year to a Q1 record of $12.2bn.
“The American Airlines team ran a great operation and delivered on our financial guidance for the quarter, resulting in a first-quarter profit for the first time in four years,” said chief executive Robert Isom, whose carrier recorded its first Q1 profit since 2019.
Minus special items, the Q1 2023 profit came to $33 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, with cash flow and free cash flow also records at $3.3bn and $3bn.
American was left with $14.4bn in available liquidity at the end of March, a war-chest made up of "cash and short-term investments plus undrawn capacity under revolving and other short-term credit facilities".
"The strong revenue performance was driven by the continued strength of the demand environment. The company produced an operating margin of 3.6% on a GAAP basis and 3.7% excluding the impact of net special items. American produced net income of $10 million in the first quarter on a GAAP basis." the airline explained in its results announcement,
American said it is "approximately 60% of the way to its goal of reducing total debt by $15bn by the end of 2025.", having by the end of Q1 2023 reducing debt by over $9bn since "peak levels" in Q2 2021, with $850 million repaid in the three months to the end of Marcg 2023.
The results left the company retaining its full-year 2023 adjusted earnings per diluted share target of $2.50 to $3.50. The carrier in the meantime will in May "make a profit-sharing payment to its team members for the first time in three years", it announced, saying "has accrued approximately $211 million to its profit-sharing pool".
“Looking ahead to the remainder of 2023, we remain focused on reliability, profitability, strengthening the balance sheet, and creating even more value for our shareholders, team members, customers and the communities we serve," Isom said, as the carrier claimed to have "outperformed the industry in on-time departures for the quarter".
The airline operated more than 476,000 flights since the start of 2023, with the load factor averaging 80% and 9.2% more capacity than in Q1 2022.