American returns to red with $153 million 3rd quarter net loss

American returns to red with $153 million 3rd quarter net loss    After posting its first quarterly profit since 2001 in the second quarter, AMR Corp., parent company of American Airlines, announced yesterday a return to the red with a net loss of $153 million in the third quarter.
   This quarter’s net deficit includes a net $58 million negative impact of two special items — an $80 million charge for a contract termination and a $22 million credit for the reversal of an insurance reserve.
   In the third quarter of 2004, AMR Corp. posted a net loss of $214 million.
   AMR’s fuel bill in the latest quarter leaped 49.8 percent to $1.58 billion from $1.05 billion in the same quarter last year.
   Operating income was $39 million, an improvement over the operating loss $27 million reported in the third quarter last year. Revenue was $5.48 billion, up 15.2 percent from $4.76 billion posted in the year prior period with cargo revenue up 2 percent to $152 million. Cargo ton-miles rose 2.5 percent to 539 million from 529 million.
   “The fact that we were unable to sustain profitability despite robust customer volumes says a lot about our inability to pass on fuel-price increases to consumers. This underscores the need to accelerate our cost-cutting initiatives across the board under our Turnaround Plan,” said Gerard Arpey, AMR chairman and chief executive officer,
   For the year-to-date, AMR reported a net loss of $257 million, compared to a deficit of $374 million in the first nine months of 2004. AMR’s operating income increased 37.9 percent to $291 million, compared to an operating income of $211 million in the same period last year. Total operating revenues improved 10.2 percent between January-September to $15.54 billion.
   AMR said that with the current level of fuel prices it expects to post a “significant loss” in the fourth quarter.