- Presidential vote seen as referendum on Romania's European future
- Hamilton bids farewell to Mercedes as Ferrari vie for title
- New Zealand unchanged in bid to hit back against England
- Macron seeks remedy to France's political crisis
- New Natalia Lafourcade album celebrates music's onstage evolutions
- Taiwan's Lai kicks off visit to US territory Guam
- Ivory Coast staple cassava meal gains UNESCO heritage status
- OpenAI to partner with military defense tech company
- Liverpool held but Slot salutes 'special' Salah
- Man City needed to break losing 'routine', says Guardiola
- Leipzig down Frankfurt to reach German Cup quarters, Cologne strike late
- Mbappe admits penalty miss 'big mistake' as Bilbao beat Real Madrid
- 'Sad, disappointed' Mbappe pays penalty as Bilbao beat Real Madrid
- US stocks surge to records, shrugging off upheaval in South Korea, France
- Liverpool held in Newcastle thriller, Arsenal inflict Amorim's first defeat
- Shiffrin confirms she'll miss Beaver Creek World Cup races
- Corner kings Arsenal beat Man Utd to close gap on Liverpool
- Mbappe pays penalty as Bilbao beat Real Madrid
- NFL Jaguars place Lawrence on injured reserve with concussion
- North Korea, Russia defence treaty comes into force
- Openda hits brace as Leipzig beat Frankfurt in German Cup last 16
- Schar punishes Kelleher blunder as Newcastle hold Liverpool in thriller
- De Bruyne masterclass helps Man City end seven-game winless streak
- Syrian rebels surround Hama 'from three sides', monitor says
- Lawyers seek leniency for France rape trial defendants, blaming 'wolf' husband
- OpenAI chief 'believes' Musk will not abuse government power
- Thousands rally in Georgia after police raid opposition offices
- S. Korea opposition push to impeach president
- Powell 'not concerned' US Fed would lose independence under Trump
- French government falls in historic no-confidence vote
- Syrian White Helmets chief 'dreams' of never pulling a body out of rubble again
- NBA Suns lose Durant for at least a week with ankle injury
- Warhammer maker Games Workshop enters London's top stocks index
- Iran Nobel winner released for three weeks, 'unconditional' freedom urged
- Red Cross marks record numbers of humanitarians killed in 2024
- Johnson's Grand Slam 'no threat', says World Athletics boss Coe
- Qatar's emir and UK's Starmer talk trade as state visit ends
- Cuba suffers third nationwide blackout in two months
- Russia, Ukraine to send top diplomats to OSCE summit in Malta
- Spanish royals to attend memorial service for flood victims
- LPGA, USGA new policy requires female at birth or pre-puberty change
- Stick to current climate change laws, US tells top UN court
- British Museum chief says Marbles deal with Greece 'some distance' away
- Pope Francis receives electric popemobile from Mercedes
- Gaza civil defence: thousands flee Israeli strikes, evacuation calls
- Trump names billionaire private astronaut as next NASA chief
- Pidcock to leave INEOS Grenadiers at end of season
- Seoul stocks weaken, Paris advances despite political turmoil
- South America summit hopes to seal 'historic' trade deal with EU
- DAZN awarded global TV rights for Club World Cup
American Airlines suffers loss as Omicron clouds outlook
American Airlines reported another quarterly loss Thursday after the latest Covid-19 surge dented demand at the end of the year, but said consumers were booking more trips for the spring.
The big US carrier echoed rivals Delta Air Lines and United Airlines in citing the Omicron wave of Covid-19 as a recent drag that has depressed bookings early in 2022.
But American has seen an uptick in reservations beyond the next 60 days, Chief Executive Doug Parker said.
"It does feel like the consumer has the confidence at being able to travel," Parker said on CNBC, while acknowledging "the results would have been better were it not for Omicron."
The carrier reported a loss of $931 million for the fourth quarter, compared with a $2.2 billion loss in the same three months of 2020.
Revenues more than doubled to $9.4 billion compared with the same period a year earlier. But in October-December 2019, before Covid-19 hit shutting down travel, American had revenues of $11.3 billion.
The latest quarter started buoyantly, with airlines seeing increased bookings as Covid-19 vaccinations became widespread and most of the US economy reopened.
But hopes dimmed as the Omicron variant surfaced as a major worry, delaying an industry comeback, especially in highly profitable business travel.
"Over the past year, we have experienced periods of high travel demand countered by periods of decreased demand due to new Covid-19 variants," Parker said in a statement.
"This volatility has created the most challenging planning environment in the history of commercial aviation."
American's forecast implies lower-priced leisure travel will remain a disproportionately large share of its travel volume.
The airline projected first-quarter capacity would be down eight to 10 percent from pre-pandemic levels, while revenues would be off 20 to 22 percent.
The company's share price rose 1.2 percent to $17.52 in pre-market trading.
P.Anderson--BTB