American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL) today reported its second-quarter 2026 financial results, including record quarterly revenue, driven by strong demand for American’s product and solid commercial execution.
Second-quarter highlights:
- Record revenue of $16.7 billion, up 16.3% year over year, the highest quarterly revenue in company history, driven by strong performance across American’s four commercial pillars.
- Strong demand and execution that offset nearly 50% of the over $2.2 billion year-over-year fuel expense increase.
- GAAP net income of $71 million, or $0.11 per diluted share.
- Adjusted net income of $99 million1, or $0.15 per diluted share.
“American delivered year-over-year revenue growth of more than 16% in the second quarter, exceeding our initial expectations and continuing the momentum we’ve built across the business,” said American’s CEO Robert Isom. “This performance reflects the strength of our commercial strategy, driven by our four pillars: elevate the customer experience, grow the global network, drive premium revenue and lead in loyalty. Revenue growth was strong across all entities and cabins, with premium, Main Cabin, domestic and international all up meaningfully year over year. These results demonstrate that our revenue performance and efficiency efforts will continue to drive improved results, and I’m excited about the remainder of 2026 and what’s ahead in 2027 and beyond. Thank you to the American Airlines team for their outstanding execution on our commercial and operational objectives during the quarter.”
The strength of American’s revenue performance and continued efficiency efforts helped to offset a challenging fuel environment. Fuel expense increased by over $2.2 billion, or 83% year over year. American was able to offset nearly 50% of this fuel headwind in the second quarter through higher fares. Fuel prices have remained volatile in recent weeks. Based on the forward fuel curve as of July 21, American expects third-quarter fuel expense to be up $1.7 billion year over year. The company is focused on mitigating the impact of higher fuel expense through robust demand for American’s product and the continued execution of its four-pillar strategy.
Revenue performance
The company’s second-quarter results were driven by strong revenue performance across all entities and cabins:
- Premium continued to outperform with passenger unit revenue up 13.4%, while Main Cabin also performed well with passenger unit revenue up 8.8% compared to the second quarter of 2025.
- Domestic demand rebounded nicely year over year with passenger unit revenue growth of 10.6%.
- International demand was strong across all entities, with passenger unit revenue for the Atlantic entity up 8.9%, the Pacific entity up 15.1% and the Latin America entity up 6.6% compared to the second quarter of 2025.
- Demand for business travel also remained strong in the second quarter, with managed corporate revenue increasing 26% year over year.
Elevate the customer experience
American continues to invest in the customer experience, resulting in a 5-point year-over-year improvement in its Net Promoter Score (NPS) in the second quarter. For on-time flights, American saw its NPS increase for the 15th time in the past 17 months. In May, the company announced plans to install Starlink high-speed Wi‑Fi on its fleet beginning in 2027, further advancing onboard connectivity and the overall customer experience.
The company continues to expand and enhance its Admirals Club® and premium lounge network to deliver a more premium experience across the customer journey, including new and upgraded amenities in key locations such as New York (JFK) and Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), in addition to previously announced plans for Charlotte, North Carolina (CLT), and Miami (MIA).
Grow the global network
American remains focused on optimizing its network to drive profitable growth, supported by continued expansion in high-demand international markets. In the second quarter, the company launched new nonstop routes to Europe, including service to Budapest, Hungary, and Prague from Philadelphia (PHL) and to Athens, Greece, from DFW, further strengthening its position in the premium trans-Atlantic market. American was also the first U.S. carrier to return to Venezuela, with service from MIA to Caracas, reinforcing its leading position in Latin America.
Across its domestic network, the airline continues to enhance connectivity and efficiency through investments in its hubs. These initiatives include the successful rebanking of DFW, which improved customer connectivity and operational performance at its largest hub. This effort reduced system misconnections in the quarter by nearly 25% year over year, improving customer satisfaction scores. This initiative also supported better financial performance at DFW, where unit revenue increased 4 points above the system average in the second quarter. The company also continues to bolster its key hubs at Chicago (ORD), MIA, PHL and Phoenix (PHX).
The company’s capacity grew 5.4% year over year in the second quarter, and the operation remained resilient throughout the quarter, with on-time arrival performance improving 2.8 points year over year.
Drive premium revenue
American continues to see momentum in its premium revenue performance, supported by strength in both corporate and premium leisure demand. The airline is adding premium seats with deliveries of new Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A321XLR aircraft and retrofits of its 777-300ER, 777-200ER, A319 and A320 aircraft. This summer, American will offer more premium seats than any other airline.
Managed corporate revenue increased 26% year over year in the second quarter, with sequential improvements each month. This marks the fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth in managed corporate revenue for American.
The company is also taking disciplined actions to maximize revenue, including updates to its checked bag fee structure and Basic Economy offerings. These initiatives contributed to a 5-point increase in the upsell rate from Basic Economy to Main Cabin for tickets sold during the second quarter.
Lead in loyalty
The industry-leading AAdvantage® program remains a key driver of customer engagement and revenue. The program continues to benefit from strong member activity and ongoing enhancements to the co-branded credit card program, reinforcing its role as a powerful contributor to both loyalty and premium demand. Enrollments in the AAdvantage® program grew more than 30% year over year in the second quarter. American’s co-branded credit card partnership with Citi is a clear example of the strength of its loyalty ecosystem with year-over-year second-quarter card spend growing 8%.
Efficiency and cost performance
American continues to benefit from long-term investments to build a more efficient and resilient airline.
“Over the past several years, we’ve made focused investments in procurement, technology and continued efforts to reengineer the business to run the airline as efficiently as possible while enhancing the customer experience,” said American’s Chief Financial Officer Devon May. “Those efforts are enabling more efficient capacity production and are reflected in our CASM-ex2 performance, which was up approximately 3% year over year.”
Balance sheet and liquidity
The company continues to strengthen its financial foundation and ended the second quarter with $11.3 billion of total available liquidity. During the quarter, the company completed several financings that bolstered liquidity and addressed its only meaningful maturity in 2027. The company remains committed to reducing debt, lowering interest expense and achieving its leverage objectives.
Outlook and financial guidance
Revenue momentum is expected to continue into the second half of the year, supported by strong demand for American’s products. The company remains focused on expanding margins over time through continued revenue execution and the benefits of its multiyear efficiency initiatives.
In the third quarter, the company expects year-over-year revenue growth to be between 16.0% and 19.0%. Based on the forward fuel curve as of July 21, American anticipates an average fuel price of approximately $3.75 per gallon for the third quarter and expects CASM-ex2 to increase 2.5% to 4.5% year over year. Given the recent increase in the cost of fuel, the company is now expecting full-year adjusted earnings (loss) per diluted share3 to be between ($0.65) and $0.65.
| Available seat miles | +3.0% – +5.0% |
| Total revenue | +16.0% – +19.0% |
| CASM excluding net special items, fuel and profit sharing2 | +2.5% – +4.5% |
| Adjusted earnings (loss) per diluted share3 | ($0.70) – ($0.10) |
| Adjusted earnings (loss) per diluted share3 | ($0.65) – $0.65 |
