Skift Take
American reported a significantly lower profit compared to Delta and United. That could be due to its international network.
Demand for travel has shown no signs of slowing down since the pandemic, but American Airlines is underperforming when stacked up against its competitors.
American posted a profit excluding one-off accounting adjustments of $192 million during the last three months of 2023 — considerably lower than Delta’s $826 million and United’s $664 million.
One of the reasons for the carrier’s significantly lower profit lies in its international network. Strong demand for international travel, particularly long-haul routes to Europe and Asia, has buoyed the Big Three carriers to record profits, but American lacks the same extensive network as Delta and United.