The freight divisions of the merged American Airlines Group, American Airlines Cargo and US Airways Cargo, recorded an airfreight increase of 1.2 per cent to 193.4 million cargo-tonnes miles (CTMs) in June, compared to the same month last year.
The US carrier’s year-to-date combined results were also positive, 1.15 billion CTMs, up 9.1 per cent over the same period last year.
The figures incorporate American Airlines Group traffic data for the month and year-to-date ending 30 June, 2014 and 2013, consisting of mainline operated flights, wholly owned regional subsidiaries and operating results from capacity purchase agreements.
In May, the group announced first quarter profits of $480 million, under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). The 2014 profits were from first quarter revenues of $9.9 billion, $206 million of which were from cargo.This is a 32 per cent leap from 2013’s $156 million first quarter cargo revenue. Its cargo ton-miles for the three months of this year was 560 million, up 60 million, or 11.9 per cent, compared to the same period in 2013.
Comparing April 2013 with the same month this year, CTM grew from 174 million to 197 million. Year-to-date, for the first four months of last year and 2014, shows a similar CTM growth rate, with 12.2 per cent being achieved. In the first quarter of 2014, American Airlines Group reached 757 million CTMs, while last year’s first four months, one month longer, only reached a total of 675 million CTMs.
In the airline’s view year-over-year figures are a more appropriate comparison with the merged entities. The American, US Airways merger was approved in December last year. The merged airline’s plans for cargo involve co-locating the previous two carriers’ facilities. The two co-located to the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in February. US Airways Cargo and American Airlines Group recorded an airfreight increase of 6.4 per cent to 204.9 million cargo-tonnes miles (CTMs) in May. The US carrier’s year-over-year combined results were also positive, 961.6 million CTMs, up 10.8 per cent over the same period last year.
