American Airlines narrows loss, COVID still wild card

Liquidity totaled $15.8 billion, the highest year-end balance on record

American Airlines' CEO says the omicron variant remains a wild card after the carrier posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss. 

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
AAL AMERICAN AIRLINES GROUP INC. 15.30 +0.38 +2.55%
JETS ETF SERIES SOLUTIONS US GLOBAL JETS ETF 21.04 +0.09 +0.42%

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"Over the past year, we have experienced periods of high travel demand countered by periods of decreased demand due to new COVID-19 variants. This volatility has created the most challenging planning environment in the history of commercial aviation. Yet the American team has delivered, growing back faster and further than any other U.S. airline to meet this unpredictable demand," said CEO Doug Parker, who is stepping down in March. President Robert Isom will then take the helm. 

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Doug Parker, CEO of American Airlines, warns of potential layoffs

Doug Parker, CEO of American Airlines, warns of potential layoffs (FOXBusiness)

The company lost $931 million in the fourth quarter, and first-quarter revenue is expected to be down as much as 22% compared with the first quarter of 2019. Liquidity totaled $15.8 billion, the highest year-end balance on record. 

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For 2021, American says it posted its "best performance in on-time arrivals, on-time departures and completion factor since the pandemic" even though it flew more than any other airline.