American Airlines loses $269m in the third quarter on record revenue of $16.3bn as fuel costs rise $1.9bn

A record quarter for revenue ended in a loss. American Airlines took in $16.3bn of revenue in the third quarter, 19.3 percent more than a year earlier, and still lost $269m, or 41 cents a share, according to results the Fort Worth carrier filed with the SEC on Thursday.

The airline paid an average of $3.85 a gallon. Its fuel bill rose $1.9bn, or 67.5 percent. Excluding special items the loss was $182m, or 28 cents a share. Unit costs excluding fuel, special items and profit sharing rose 3.0 percent.

The revenue side held up across the cabin. Premium revenue rose 22.9 percent and Main Cabin revenue 19.5 percent, and corporate travel booked under company contracts was up 27.6 percent.

For the fourth quarter American plans on fuel at about $4.70 a gallon, nearly double what it paid a year earlier, which it says adds roughly $2.8bn to the fuel bill. It expects revenue to grow 19.5 to 22.5 percent and an adjusted loss of 50 cents to $1.10 a share. For the full year it now expects an adjusted loss of $1.00 to $1.60 a share, and it says growth in its network will slow in 2027. The airline ended September with $11.8bn of available liquidity.