American Airlines Group reports record third-quarter revenue of $16.3 billion as fuel costs rise 67.5%

American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL) reported record third-quarter revenue of $16.3 billion on Thursday, up 19.3% from a year earlier, while aircraft fuel expense rose 67.5%.

The company said in a news release attached to a regulatory filing that it posted a GAAP net loss of $269 million for the quarter.

Here's how the company did:

• Revenue: $16,335 million vs. $13,691 million a year earlier
• GAAP net loss: $269 million, or ($0.41) per diluted share, vs. $114 million, or ($0.17) per diluted share, a year earlier
• Adjusted net loss: $182 million, or ($0.28) per diluted share, vs. $111 million, or ($0.17) per diluted share, a year earlier
• Aircraft fuel and related taxes: $4,635 million vs. $2,767 million a year earlier

The adjusted figures exclude $87 million of net special items after the effect of taxes.

Premium revenue rose 22.9%, and Main Cabin revenue rose 19.5% from a year earlier.

Third-quarter revenue growth of 19.3% is the highest in company history, excluding the years following the pandemic, the company said.

Total unit revenue rose 14.5%. Domestic passenger unit revenue rose 13.6%, and international passenger unit revenue rose 16.4%. Within international, the Latin America entity rose 21.1%, the Atlantic entity rose 14.5% and the Pacific entity rose 11.3%.

“American delivered record third-quarter revenue and the strongest year-over-year revenue growth in my career, with premium performance leading the way,” said CEO Robert Isom.

“While historically high fuel prices significantly impacted our financial results, our focus remains on restoring profitability and building a stronger American for the long term,” Isom said.

AAdvantage enrollments rose 27.4% year over year. Managed corporate revenue rose 27.6%, the sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth.

The company's co-branded credit card partnership with Citi saw third-quarter card spend growth of nearly 10% year over year.

Premium passenger unit revenue rose 18.5%, compared with 14.4% in Main Cabin. Premium products generate roughly half of ticket revenue on about 30% of seats, the company said.

The average fuel price was $3.85 per gallon in the third quarter, up 62.7% from $2.37 a year earlier. The higher price increased fuel expense by $1.9 billion year over year.

Costs excluding net special items, fuel and profit sharing rose 3.0% per available seat mile year over year. The company said it delivered the best unit cost performance among the network carriers.

“We remain focused on the factors that drive the most value,” said Chief Financial Officer Devon May. May also said the company expects to lead the network carriers in the spread between year-over-year unit revenue and cost growth for the full year.

The company expects nearly $1 billion in annual run rate savings by the end of 2026, and more than $900 million in working capital improvements, through its multiyear reengineering efforts.

On Oct. 8, the company announced plans to expand Starlink installation across its entire mainline fleet, bringing the technology to more than 1,000 aircraft.

The company ended the third quarter with $11.8 billion of total available liquidity and more than $26 billion of unencumbered assets and first-lien capacity.

Net debt was $28,079 million at the end of the quarter. The company targets 3.0x net debt to EBITDAR, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and rent, in line with BB credit metrics.

Net cash provided by operating activities was $4,541 million in the first nine months of 2026, compared with $3,373 million a year earlier.

Nonoperating special items were $95 million pre-tax in the quarter. The company recorded an impairment charge tied to its equity investment in Republic Airways Holdings Inc. during the period.

Full-time equivalent employees totaled 141,100 at the end of the period, up 3.1% from 136,900 a year earlier.

For the fourth quarter, the company expects year-over-year revenue growth of 19.5% to 22.5%, available seat miles up 5.5% to 6.5%, and an adjusted loss of ($1.10) to ($0.50) per diluted share.

The outlook uses the forward fuel curve as of Oct. 19 and assumes an average fuel price of about $4.70 per gallon, nearly double the price paid in the fourth quarter of 2025. At that price, fuel expense is expected to increase approximately $2.8 billion versus the fourth quarter of 2025.

For full-year 2026, the company expects an adjusted loss of ($1.60) to ($1.00) per diluted share, despite a year-over-year fuel headwind of over $7 billion.

Given elevated fuel prices, the company expects network growth in 2027 to slow from 2026 levels.