American Airlines parent AMR Corp. is scheduled to report its first-quarter earnings on Wednesday but analysts expect the company to post another loss. AMR was the only US airline to lose money last year, mainly due to high fuel costs, winter storms, and the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, not to mention the ongoing dispute with travel website Orbitz and airline ticket information broker Travelport.
Revenues are expected to be on the up thanks to more traffic and a series of fare increases but the airline’s labour relations are fraught with unions plan for protests against stock-based compensation for several hundred top managers.
However AMR is also considering spinning-off of its regional airline, American Eagle, which could significantly boost cashflow.
In the first quarter of 2010, AMR reported a net loss of $505 million, or $1.52 per share, on revenue of $5.07 billion.