Affected by the drop in demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic, American Airlines (A1G) (AAL) reported a net loss of $8.9 billion for the year 2020, a record in the company’s history.
Despite reducing its operating spending by $7 billion in 2020, mainly by canceling numerous flights, it still continued to burn $30 million a day in the fourth quarter, resulting in a net loss of $2.2 billion over the period as its revenues collapsed by 64%. In October 2020, the carrier had temporarily furloughed 19,000 employees before benefitting from another round of state aid unlocked for the airline sector.
“Our fourth-quarter financial results close out the most challenging year in our company’s history,” said American Airlines Chairman and CEO Doug Parker. “While we don’t know exactly when passenger demand will return, as vaccine distribution takes hold and travel restrictions are lifted, we will be ready” for the recovery.