American Puts Loss in Rearview Mirror

DALLAS (TheStreet) -- The world may view AMR's (NYSE: AMR) American Airlines as a falling star, losing ground to merging competitors and held back by higher costs.

But the carrier doesn't buy in to reports of its demise.

As expected, American was the only major carrier to lose money in the second quarter. The loss of $10.7 million, or three cents a share, was even bigger than the penny-a-share loss that analysts estimated.

To review, on Monday Delta reported its best quarter in 10 years. On Tuesday, United reported its best quarter in 11 years. On Wednesday, American reported that it reduced its quarterly loss from $390 million to $10.7 million.

It's clear that the industry has long since passed the point that saw United and American battling for supremacy, with CEO icons Steven Wolf and Bob Crandall leading their armies into Europe and South America and snatching up the carcasses of once-dominant Eastern, Pan Am and TWA, even as the two contesting every slot at O'Hare.

Delta (NYSE: DAL) passed American in size following a 2008 merger with Northwest. United (Nasdaq: UAUA) will pass them both when its merger with Continental (NYSE: CAL) is approved. That means American, long the largest U.S. carrier, will soon be third.

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