American Airlines CEO has made a bold promise to investors, stating the world’s largest airline will stay out of the red, come what may.
Doug Parker says it can ride out any bad years and still turn a profit.
"I don’t think we’re ever going to lose money again. We have an industry that’s going to be profitable in good and bad times," he told analysts and the media.
Even in bad times Parker says AA should book about $3 billion in pre-tax profits.
Including this financial year, the airline will have made $19.2 billion in pre-tax income over the last four years.
This comes despite American revising down its third-quarter revenue outlook after widespread cancellations due to the impact of Hurricane Irma in Florida and the Caribbean.
Analysts in general don’t share quite the same optimism as Parker, with jet fuel prices on the rise and a glut of seats in the market forcing down yields.
The ever present threat of terrorism can also severely dampen travel demand.
American outlined a strategy to increase revenue by about $1 billion on average a year over the next four years with new credit card company deals and more seats.
