US: Post the chaotic holiday season, American Airlines reports profits - How is the airline doing?

US: Post the chaotic holiday season, American Airlines reports profits - How is the airline doing?

Lesley Simeon - January 27th, 2023

American Airlines’ fourth-quarter profits have topped analysts’ estimates, with revenue up almost 17% from 2019. For the three months ending on 31 December 2022, the airline reported a net income of $803 million and a revenue of $13.19 billion - marking a 16.6% increase in revenue over the same period in 2019, inspite of flying at 6.1% less capacity.

Last month, winter storms wrecked havoc on Americans’ travel plans, with airlines cancelling and delaying their flights by the thousands. At 792 delays and 12 cancellations, American Airlines was far from being the worst hit of the carriers - Southwest Airlines led the flight-cancellation roster with the airline cancelling 70% of its total flights a day after Christmas 2022, followed by Delta which cancelled 265 flights. At one point, American Airlines even capped prices on its fares.

But with strong travel demand and high fares boosting the airline’s revenue, how has American Airlines performed off-late?

According to YouGov BrandIndex - which tracks consumer sentiment towards thousands of brands daily - American Airline’s Consideration score has improved since Q3 2022. The brand’s Consideration score - which indicates how many consumers are considering purchasing from the brand, when next in market - grew from 31% on 1 July 2022 to 37% on 25 January 2023.

The airline’s Current Customer scores, however, have remained mostly unchanged, increasing by just one percentage point through the observation period.

BrandIndex data suggests that American Airlines’ Value metric - which measures whether the brand represents poor or good value for customers’ money - increased six points from a net score of 5 on 1 July 2022 to 11 on 25 January 2023.

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Methodology:YouGov BrandIndex collects data on thousands of brands every day.

American Airlines’ Consideration score is based on the question: When you are in the market next to book a flight, from which of the following would you consider purchasing a ticket? and delivered as a percentage. Its Value score is based on the question: Which of the following airlines do you think represents good value/poor value for money? and delivered as a net score. Its Current Customer score is based on the question: Have you purchased a flight from any of the following airlines in the past 12 months? and delivered as a percentage. Scores are based on an average daily sample size of 3686 US adults between 1 June 2022 and 25 January 2023. Figures are based on an eight-week moving average. Learn more about BrandIndex.

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