American Airlines Group pax numbers down 3% at 14.1m in Feb-2017, cargo traffic up 10%

American Airlines Group reports (09-Mar-2017) the following consolidated traffic highlights in Feb-2017:

• Passengers: 14.1 million, -2.5% year-on-year;
• Revenue passenger miles: -3.3%;
• • Domestic: -5.2%;
  • International: -1.9%;
  • • Europe: -5.4%;
    • Latin America: -8.1%;
    • Asia Pacific: +19.0%;
• Passenger load factor: 77.3%, +0.3ppt;
• • Domestic: 81.2%, -0.1ppt;
  • International: 72.0%, +1.5ppts;
  • • Europe: 62.7%, +3.2ppts;
    • Latin America: 75.1%, +1.1ppts;
    • Asia Pacific: 77.3%, -2.5ppts;
• Cargo traffic: +9.7%. [more - original PR]

American Airlines Group: "The Company expects its first quarter 2017 total revenue per available seat mile (TRASM) to be up approximately 1.5 percent to 3.5 percent year-over-year vs. its previous guidance of up 2.5 percent to 4.5 percent. This decrease is due primarily to the Company's year-to-date systemwide mainline completion factor of 98.9 percent vs. 97.7 percent in the same period last year. The higher completion factor is positive for customer service and profitability, but the additional ASMs generally reduce TRASM results. The Company continues to expect its first quarter pre-tax margin excluding special items to be between 3 percent and 5 percent." Source: Company statement, 09-Mar-2017.