American Airlines’ financial performance is clouded by concerns over unit revenue degradation

American Airlines does not foresee a return to unit revenue growth until 2H2016 as industry capacity increases that occurred during 2Q2015 should remain at similar levels until that time. American's 7% decline in passenger unit revenues during 2Q2015 was the largest among the four major US airlines.

Similar to those other airlines, American posted record top-line financial results in 2Q2015, which for now does not seem to be enough to allay investor concerns about declining unit revenue.

Perhaps the reason investors have lingering concerns over declining unit revenues is that US airlines are still in the midst of proving that their financial performance is moving closer to sustained investment grade. Investors at this point have no frame of reference to feel assured that airlines can successfully weather current revenue dynamics.