American Airlines’ (NASDAQ:AAL) shares rose Thursday after the carrier hiked its revenue and profit estimates for the fourth quarter thanks to strong demand and high fares.
American estimates revenue rose as much as 17% over 2019, up from a previous forecast of an 11% to 13% increase over the period three years earlier, before the pandemic.
American said revenue per seat mile likely rose 24% in the quarter from 2019, above its prior forecast of 18% to 20%.
It expects to report adjusted earnings per share of between $1.12 and $1.17, up from its previous estimate of between 50 cents and 70 cents.
The update Thursday is the first indication of how a major airline coped with a rocky end of the year, when severe weather sparked mass cancellations around the U.S. during the busy holiday travel season. American reports full results on Jan. 26.
The reason behind this is a computer outage affecting the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system. This includes critical information that airline workers need to do their jobs. Without it, the agency was forced to ground some 5,400 flights.
According to law enforcement, there’s no evidence that this outage was caused by a cyber attack. Even so, President Joe Biden has ordered the Department of Transportation to do a full investigation into the incident.
AAL shares grabbed 81 cents, or 5.3%, to $16.14.
Related Stories
