American Airlines' Fuel Bill Rose $1.9 Billion, Pushing Third-Quarter Net Loss To $269 Million
Revenue grew 19.3% to $16.3 billion, and the airline guides to an adjusted loss of $0.50 to $1.10 per share for the fourth quarter.
American Airlines lost $269 million, or $0.41 per diluted share, in the third quarter, even as revenue rose 19.3% to $16.3 billion, the company said in an earnings release filed Thursday. Fuel expense rose $1.9 billion, or 67.5%, from a year earlier.
What the release says
Revenue came in above the high end of the company's earlier guidance range. The company said the 19.3% growth is its highest outside the years following the pandemic.
American paid an average of $3.85 per gallon for fuel in the quarter. Operating income fell to $115 million from $151 million a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, which excludes special items, the net loss was $182 million, or $0.28 per share. The company noted that this was only $71 million worse than the third quarter of 2025, despite the fuel increase.
CEO Robert Isom called it "record third-quarter revenue and the strongest year-over-year revenue growth in my career." He added that "historically high fuel prices significantly impacted our financial results."
Premium revenue rose 22.9% and Main Cabin revenue rose 19.5%. Managed corporate revenue grew 27.6%, the sixth straight quarter of double-digit growth. Unit costs excluding fuel, special items and profit sharing rose 3.0%, which the company said was the best among network carriers.
The fuel assumption behind the outlook
For the fourth quarter, American expects revenue growth of 19.5% to 22.5% and an adjusted loss of $0.50 to $1.10 per share. For the full year, it guides to an adjusted loss of $1.00 to $1.60 per share.
Those figures rest on the forward fuel curve as of Oct. 19, which implies about $4.70 per gallon, nearly double the fourth quarter of 2025. At that price, fuel expense would rise about $2.8 billion from a year earlier.
Because of elevated fuel prices, American expects network growth in 2027 to slow from 2026 levels.
The company ended the quarter with $11.8 billion of total available liquidity. Net debt stood at $28.079 billion.
Before the report
A Seeking Alpha preview pointed to rising fuel and non-fuel unit costs weighing on profit despite strong sales. Zacks consensus, carried by Yahoo Finance, had called for a $0.28 per-share loss on $16.2 billion of revenue.
The fourth-quarter report will show whether revenue growth lands in the 19.5% to 22.5% range with fuel near $4.70 a gallon.
