Fuel costs prolong losses at American Airlines
AMR Corp., parent company of American Airlines, Wednesday reported a first quarter net loss of $162 million, compared to a loss of $166 million for the same period in 2004, with a fuel bill in the latest quarter that went up $346 million.
“The combination of extraordinarily high fuel prices and low fares continues to take a heavy financial toll,” said Gerard Arpey, AMR chairman and chief executive officer.
AMR said the net loss included a benefit of $69 million related to certain excise tax refunds, without which AMR would have recorded a net loss of $230 million.
Total operating revenues in the first quarter were $4.8 billion, up 5 percent over the $4.5 billion posted in the year-earlier period.
AMR’s cargo revenue for the first quarter increased 2 percent to $151 million. Cargo ton miles increased 3.5 percent to 539 million, from 521 million in the same period 2004.