American Airlines boosted by fare rise AMR Corporation, the financially troubled parent of American Airlines, announced its first headline second-quarter net profit for five years and said it expected the momentum of its improvement to "build quickly" as it restructured itself. AMR has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since November 29 last year as it battles to overcome the effects of a weak economy, high fuel prices and high fixed costs. However, for the June quarter it announced a net profit of $95m excluding reorganisation and special items, against a $286m net loss for the same period of 2011. The result after costs related to the bankruptcy was a $241m net loss, depressed by a $106m special charge mainly covering employee severance costs and $230m in reorganisation items. Tom Horton, AMR's chief executive, called the period a "time of exceptional improvement." This improvement reflects only a fraction of our ongoing restructuring progress. While there is still much to be done, we expect this momentum to build quickly as the new American re-emerges as an industry leader. The results come after Willie Walsh, chief executive of IAG, parent of British Airways and Iberia, American's partners on a series of transatlantic routes, told reporters that his company would be willing to invest in AMR as it emerges from Chapter 11. "What we've said is that we are willing to invest in American, particularly a restructured American, if they would welcome that," Reuters reported Mr Walsh as saying. Mr Walsh also insisted that a merger between American and another airline would pose no threat to either IAG or the oneworld alliance of which both its airlines and American are key members. "I see it, and I've always seen it, as a great opportunity for IAG and for oneworld because, without question, American will be stronger and will be better," Mr Walsh said. Mr Horton wrote last week in a letter to staff that American was considering "a range of strategic options," including merging with another carrier, in a transaction that would increase the US airline industry's consolidation. Its rival, US Airways, has been openly pursuing a merger with American. Consolidated passenger yield - a measure of average fares paid - was 7.1 per cent up on the same period last year. Bella Goren, chief financial officer, said growth in the company's unit revenue - the revenue it earned for every available seat-mile - had outpaced the wider industry in each month of the second quarter. "These industry-leading year-over-year revenue increases reflect the strength of our network and alliances, our focus on the customer and the effectiveness of our overall strategy," Ms Goren said.