American Airlines Group, the holding company of American Airlines (A1G) (AAL) (AA), announced a $2.4 billion loss in Q3 2020, compared to a $425 million profit it made in 2019.
Despite the fact that the airline kept doing “a remarkable job taking care of the customers,” according to the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of American Airlines Doug Parker, the times remain challenging. Parker highlighted the negative financial impact of the crisis, which resulted in the airline posting a two billion loss in the quarter.
According to the financial report of Q3 2020, AA’s revenue dropped by 73% to $3.17 billion in comparison to $11.9 billion in the same period of 2019. The CEO of American Airlines (A1G) (AAL) commented that in order to preserve cash, the carrier had started an aggressive cost reduction program that resulted in removing up to $17 billion from the airline’s operating and capital expenses budgets for 2020.
“We have a long road ahead and our team remains fully engaged and focused not just on managing through the pandemic, but on making sure we are prepared for when demand returns. We are confident that the continued efforts of our team and the actions we have taken will drive customer confidence and strengthen our company for the future,” stated Parker on October 22, 2020.
American Airlines (A1G) (AAL) sent more than 150 of its aircraft into early retirement. After removing its Boeing 757s, Boeing 767s, Embraer E190s, Airbus A330-300s and Bombardier CRJ-200s from the fleet, the airline also decided to retire all of its 15 Airbus A330-200 planes.
In addition to the measures taken, the company also cut its cash burn by reducing the non-aircraft capital expenses. Meanwhile, the airline rejected all its plans of ground service equipment purchases as well as suspended all non-critical investments.
Earlier in October 2020, American Airlines (A1G) (AAL) began furloughing its 19,000 employees after the $25 billion state-backed CARES Act for the crippled airline industry expired.