American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL) reported Q2 EPS of $1.63, $0.04 better than the analyst estimate of $1.59. Revenue for the quarter came in at $11.64 billion versus the consensus estimate of $11.7 billion.

• Reported a second-quarter 2018 pre-tax profit of $769 million, or $1.0 billion excluding net special items1, and a second-quarter net profit of $566 million, or $757 million excluding net special items
• Second-quarter 2018 earnings were $1.22 per diluted share, or $1.63 per diluted share excluding net special items
• Returned $396 million to shareholders, including the repurchase of 8.2 million shares and dividend payments of $46 million
• Announced changes to Basic Economy so that beginning on September 5, it will include both a personal item and a carry-on bag like other Main Cabin fares
• Announced deferral of 22 Airbus A321neo deliveries from 2019, 2020 and 2021, lowering aircraft capital expenditures for those years

“This was perhaps the most challenging quarter for the American team since our merger with US Airways in 2013,” said American’s Chairman and CEO Doug Parker. “We had an operational disruption at our PSA Airlines subsidiary that was extremely trying for our customers and our team members; higher fuel prices increased our expenses by more than $700 million versus last year; and our revenues, while increasing, have begun to trail the rate of increase at our largest competitors for the first time since early 2016. Because fuel expenses are expected to increase by more than $2 billion this year, we expect 2018 earnings to be lower than last year.

“These near-term challenges do not dampen our long-term excitement about the future of American Airlines. We are taking aggressive action now to return American to prior profitability levels even at these much higher fuel prices. We are deferring aircraft deliveries and capital expenditures, lowering our 2018 capacity growth and reducing non fuel-related expenses. In addition, we anticipate that our 2019 capacity growth will be lower than our competitors and will be focused in our top-performing hubs at Dallas-Fort Worth and Charlotte. We are confident these actions will return American to both revenue outperformance and earnings growth in 2019 and beyond. As a result, we are very bullish on the future of American Airlines.”

For earnings history and earnings-related data on American Airlines (AAL) click here.