Winter storms forced airlines to ground nearly 20,000 flights this week and chilled industry earnings, resulting in an estimated net loss of $121 million to $150 million, according to AirlineForecasts LLC on Friday.
American Airlines, the country’s third-largest carrier, took the biggest hit after high winds and ice closed its Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport hub Tuesday. American, along with American Eagle and its other commuter operations, racked up more than 5,300 cancellations for the week, according to FlightAware, which tracks airline performance.
Assuming 10 percent to 30 percent of customers stranded by the weather choose to not reschedule, the cancellations likely reduced first-quarter net income of parent company AMR Corp. by $41.5 million to $51.3 million, or 12.5 to 15 cents a share, said Vaughn Cordle, chief analyst at AirlineForecasts.
“The airlines accrue for a certain amount of winter losses in their operations, so when they actually report it, the actual losses could be less — this is a ballpark figure,” Cordle said in an interview. MarketWatch
