American Airlines has closed the first half of the fiscal year with a net loss of 168 million dollars (147.7 million euros), compared to the net profit of 242 million dollars (213 million euros) achieved in the same period of the previous year, despite having reached historic revenues in the second quarter, the company has reported in a statement. At the same time, the airline has once again revised its projections for 2026 downwards.
The sharp increase in fuel prices has been one of the main burdens: fuel spending skyrocketed by 83% year-on-year, to more than 2.2 billion dollars (1.953 billion euros). This increase was only compensated by around 50% through a rise in fares, and the company expects that in the third quarter, fuel costs will register a new spike of 1.7 billion dollars (1.495 billion euros).
Regarding billing, the airline's revenues increased by 13.7% in the first six months of the year, reaching 30.647 billion dollars (26.956 billion euros). This growth was supported by a new quarterly record between April and June, when the company earned 16.735 billion dollars (14.719 billion euros).
"Revenue growth was solid across all categories and classes, with a significant year-on-year increase in premium classes," highlighted its CEO, Robert Isom.
Nevertheless, the profit for the second quarter was drastically reduced: the positive result was limited to 71 million dollars (62 million euros), far below the 599 million dollars (527 million euros) obtained in the same period of 2025.
Looking at the whole of 2026, American Airlines has cut its forecasts for the second time this year, and now anticipates an adjusted loss of 65 cents per share, worse than the 41 cents it estimated in April. In the most optimistic scenario, the company hopes to achieve a profit of 65 cents per share.