American Airlines' revenue from business travel increased 7 percent year over year in the first quarter. That owes to strong corporate travel demand and higher average ticket values, which occurred despite a competitive corporate travel market, executives said in the carrier's earnings call.
Total revenue rose 5.9 percent year-over-year during the first quarter to $10.4 billion, a first-quarter record, American Airlines president Robert Isom said. Passenger revenue rose 5.4 percent to $9.48 billion. He noted "solid demand" and increased premium cabin revenue on international routes, with unit revenue up across all geographic regions for the second quarter in a row.
American's corporate sales team also has seen "an acceleration of small to medium-size corporate account acquisitions," according to Isom.
Traffic increased 3.8 percent year over year during the quarter, and capacity rose 2.3 percent, pushing load factor up 1.2 percentage points to 80.4 percent. Yield went up 1.5 percent.
American reported a net income of $186 million for the first quarter, down from $340 million a year prior. CEO Doug Parker said a 25.8 percent year-over-year increase in fuel costs drove that drop.
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