American Airlines Earnings: More Bad News

Pretty much every major airline has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic this year. But in the U.S., industry laggard American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL) has struggled more than its rivals, due to high interest and lease costs, as well as strategic missteps.

American's third-quarter earnings report revealed that the carrier's underperformance is continuing -- and that's bad news for investors. Let's take a look.

As I noted in my earnings preview, American Airlines restored capacity faster than rivals Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) and United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL) this summer. That represented a risky bet on pent-up demand driving a big sequential improvement in domestic air travel during the traditional vacation season. Unfortunately for American and its shareholders, demand has recovered from its April nadir at a very modest pace.

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Source Fool.com