American Airlines joined US big three rivals United and Delta in reporting a record pre-summer quarter.
The carrier achieved a net profit of $1.3 billion as revenue for the three months to June 30 rose by 4.7% year-on-year to a record of $14.1 billion.
The airline saw “noticeable strength” in long-haul international demand and yield performance.
Meanwhile, US domestic and short-haul international revenue continued to perform well.
“Demand was particularly strong in the month of June driven by an increase in close-in bookings,” the airline said.
American and its regional partners operated almost 500,000 flights in the airline’s second quarter, with an average load factor of 86%.
Total debt was cut by $387 million in the quarter, meaning that American is nearly two-thirds of the way towards a goal of reducing total debt by $15 billion by the end of 2025.
Total debt by June 30 had been reduced by $9.4 billion from peak levels in Covid era mid-2021.
“Strengthening the balance sheet continues to be a top priority,” the airline stressed.
Chief executive Robert Isom said: “It was another fantastic quarter for American, driven by the hard work of our team to deliver a reliable operation for our customers and the continued strong demand for our product.
“Our operation is performing at historically strong levels, and we have worked to refresh our fleet and build a comprehensive global network, all of which helped to produce record revenues in the second quarter.
“We will build on this momentum the rest of the year and continue to prioritise reliability, profitability, accountability and strengthening our balance sheet.”
Delta Air Lines and United both reported strong international performances in the three months.