American Airlines lost $931 million in the
fourth quarter and the omicron variant of
COVID-19 is delaying its recovery from nearly
two years of pandemic.
First-quarter revenue is expected to be down
about 20% to 22% compared with the first quarter
of 2019, and it will fly slightly less than it did two
years ago, the airline said Thursday.
CEO Doug Parker, who retires this spring, said
over the past year that American has swung
from periods of high travel demand followed by
declines as new variants of COVID-19 emerged,
creating an unprecedented challenge to airlines’
ability to plan.
“Our results were significantly improved over
2020, but the impact of the omicron variant has
affected the timing of a full revenue recovery,”
Parker and Robert Isom, who will become CEO in
March, said in a note to employees.
American’s loss compared with a loss of nearly
$2.2 billion a year ago. Excluding certain items, the
Fort Worth, Texas-based company said it would
have lost $1.42 per share. Analysts expected a loss
of $1.46 per share, according to a FactSet survey.
Revenue was $9.43 billion, more than double
a year ago and slightly above the $9.34 billion
forecast from analysts.
The airlines saw strong demand from holiday
travelers at Thanksgiving and Christmas,
but as the year ended they were struggling
with staffing shortages caused by omicron.
The combination of winter storms and
employees calling in sick led to thousands
of flight cancellations in late December and
early January.