Parent Of American Airlines Posts $220M Profit

The parent of American Airlines posted a $220 million second-quarter profit as cost-cutting from its bankruptcy reorganization kicked in.

It's the first time in six years that American has reported a profit during the April-June quarter. During the same period last year, it lost $241 million, mostly because of bankruptcy related expenses.

Revenue was steady at about $6.45 billion.

AMR Corp. has been operating under bankruptcy protection since late 2011. It has cut worker pay and other expenses. Spending for wages was 18 percent lower than a year ago. Fuel expenses fell 3 percent as the price of fuel dropped.

American Airlines: Turbulent Times

American is seeking approval for a merger with US Airways Group Inc. The airlines have said they hope to close the deal by the end of September.

The most recent quarter included $137 million in bankruptcy expenses and special items. Without those it would have earned $357 million.

American says it will expand flying capacity 1.5 percent this year, not counting increases from the merger with US Airways. The 2013 increase includes a 2.7 percent jump in the third quarter. The latest increase is because of longer average flights, and new flights - or bigger planes - on routes to South Korea, Mexico, and Central and South America.

American said it is making progress in adding a coach section of seats with more legroom, for which it will charge extra. The changes have been made on nearly all of the mainline planes it uses for domestic flights, except for about 5 percent of its Boeing 737s.