American Airlines Group has reported a third-quarter 2021 net profit of $169 million, or $0.25 per diluted share. Excluding net special items, this equated to a third-quarter net loss of $641 million, or ($0.99) per share. Third-quarter revenue was up 20% compared to the second quarter of 2021 to $9.0 billion.
American ended the third quarter with approximately $18 billion of total available liquidity, after prepayment of $950 million spare parts term loan during the quarter.
American states that it continues to expect robust demand during peak travel periods in the fourth quarter, with more than 6,000 peak day departures.
The airline further stated that it continues to execute on its plan to pay down approximately $15 billion of debt by the end of 2025.
“The American Airlines team continues to demonstrate its resilience and ability to execute, enabling us to deliver our best quarter since the pandemic began as measured by pre-tax financial results,” said American’s Chairman and CEO Doug Parker. “While the rise of the COVID-19 delta variant delayed some of our revenue recovery, it has not stopped our progress. We are incredibly proud of the team’s hard work to operate a great airline, and with the network, cost and fleet simplification actions we have taken, we’re confident American is well-positioned as the recovery takes hold.”
American ended the third quarter with approximately $18 billion of total available liquidity. During the quarter, the airline announced its intention to reduce its debt by $15 billion by the end of 2025. American states that it plans to accomplish this through naturally occurring amortization and by using excess cash and free cash flow to pay down prepayable debt. As part of that plan, American prepaid in full its $950 million spare parts term loan facility in the third quarter. In addition, during the third quarter, American had scheduled debt amortization payments of approximately $649 million and unencumbered 20 Boeing 777-200 aircraft.
American stated that it will continue to match its forward capacity with observed bookings trends. Based on current trends, it expects its fourth-quarter capacity to be down approximately 11% to 13% compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. American expects its fourth-quarter total revenue to be down approximately 20% versus the fourth quarter of 2019. The company also expects its fourth quarter pre-tax margin excluding net special items will be between negative 16% and negative 18%2.