American Airlines Doubles Second Quarter Profit

American Airlines' second quarter profit grew 97 percent from a year earlier to USD$1.7 billion.

On an adjusted basis, profit was USD$1.9 billion.

The oil glut, which has driven down US crude prices more than 50 percent since June 2014, has been a boon to American because it did not hedge against a price rise. The carrier's fuel bill and related taxes fell to USD$2.1 billion in the second quarter compared to USD$3.4 billion a year earlier.

The company announced a USD$2 billion stock buyback and declared a dividend of 10 cents per share.

However, a strong US dollar has depressed demand for travel to the United States, which has hurt the carrier's revenue.

Passenger revenue per available seat mile dropped 6.9 percent in the second quarter from the prior year. Total revenue decreased 4.6 percent in the quarter to USD$10.8 billion.

At the same time, unit costs excluding fuel and special items rose 2.6 percent.