Another major U.S. airline is now predicting a stronger end to the year for its balance sheet.
On its third quarter earnings call on Thursday, American Airlines said that it expects to report a higher annual profit for 2025 after a bumpy financial start to the year.
In the first half of 2025, U.S. carriers faced a challenging environment of economic uncertainty driven by President Trump’s tariff policies. That uncertainty led to a significant decrease in domestic travel demand, especially among price-sensitive fliers who typically book into airlines’ economy cabins.
Across the industry, airlines began reducing fares and cutting their capacity to help mitigate the effects of softening demand. It’s a strategy that has paid off for American, which noted on Thursday that its unit revenue—a metric that indicates how much revenue a carrier generates per seat it flies—returned to positive growth in September.
The airline also reported a record-setting third-quarter revenue of $13.7 billion. The company now predicts its annual earnings per diluted share to be between $0.65 and $0.95 for the full year. That’s a major increase over its last forecast in July when it predicted a range of a 20-cent loss to an 80-cent profit, according to Reuters.
In keeping with an industry-wide trend, American also reported that premium products continued to outperform main cabin in terms of revenue growth. The carrier has leaned into demand for more premium experiences across the air travel journey, and it has plans to build new Flagship lounges in Miami and Charlotte, expand its new Flagship Suite business class seats to transcontinental flights aboard its new Airbus A321XLR aircraft, and revamp its regional aircraft for a more premium experience similar to its mainline planes.
Demand for domestic leisure travel has also continued to rebound throughout the year, with the U.S. Travel Association forecasting 1.9% growth for 2025. “Consumer sentiment shows concern about inflation and general economic conditions, but Americans continued to prioritize travel,” the group said in early October.
“We’ve built a strong foundation, with best-in class cost management and a focus on strengthening the balance sheet,” said American Airlines CEO Robert Isom. “Looking forward, I’m confident that continued investments in our network, customer experience and loyalty program will position us well to drive revenue growth and shareholder value in 2026 and beyond.”
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