Investing.com – American Airlines stock (NASDAQ:AAL) traded 0.2% higher in Monday’s premarket, shrugging off concerns around the impact on the company from the latest chaotic weekend at U.S. airports.
The airline cancelled more than 1,900 flights over the weekend as wind gusts slowed arrivals at its busy Dallas-Fort Worth hub. Lack of pilots and flight attendants at the right places also aggravated the problem.
American is the third airline to have its weekend schedule badly disrupted in as many months, as bad weather conditions combine with stretched personnel and aircraft rosters. Spirit Airlines (NYSE:SAVE) in August and then Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) in October both had to cancel large numbers of flights due to similar issues.
The market is ignoring the short-term disruptions, however, and pinning its hopes on a broad demand revival. The U.S. loosened restrictions on international arrivals last month as the pandemic receded, suggesting that times are likely to get better for the sector.
Signs of a turnaround were visible in the airlines’ last earnings. American returned to profit in the third quarter and said it will add capacity to cater to rising demand. Third-quarter profit was $169 million compared to a loss of $2.39 billion in July-September last year. Excluding items, the company still posted a third-quarter net loss of $641 million.
The airline said it expects more than 6,000 peak-day departures in the current quarter.