American Airlines swings to profit after merger Profits for the companies that merged last month to form the new American Airlines Group improved nearly fivefold in 2013 compared with 2012, underlining the increasingly benign environment for US airlines. AAG said combined 2013 net income excluding net special charges for AMR Corporation and US Airways, which merged on December 9, would have been $1.9bn on $40.4bn revenue, up from $407m net income on $38.6bn revenue on the same basis for 2012. The figures were calculated as if the two airlines had been merged for the whole of both years. A series of mergers and bankruptcies that have reduced competition and allowed airlines to cut costs have sharply improved US airlines" profitability after a decade when most traditional airlines were barely profitable. Doug Parker, chief executive of the new, merged company, said the merger's early returns were "very positive." "These financial results are evidence of the strong foundation we have in place and we anticipate improving upon these results as we further integrate our operations in 2014," he said. The figures sent the group's shares up 1.7 per cent in premarket trading. The new, merged group's financial figures were complicated both by the merger and the emergence from two years" bankruptcy of AMR Corporation, parent of the old American Airlines. US Airways" shareholders received 28 per cent of the new company, while AMR's creditors received the remainder. Under the US's generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), AMR recorded a $1.83bn net loss for 2013 on $26.7bn in revenues, against a $1.87bn net loss on $24.9bn in revenue for 2012. In contrast to the combined figures, the GAAP figures include US Airways" results only for the 22 days in December after the merger with AMR. The figures were dragged down by $3.1bn of net special charges, including $2.66bn of reorganisation charges. The 2012 figures included $1.7bn of net special charges. For the three months to December 31, the two airlines" combined passenger revenue per available seat mile - a key measure - on mainline routes improved 6.6 per cent to 12.56 cents over the combined figure for 2012"s last quarter. On regional routes, it fell 0.3 per cent to 22.48 cents. The merger has turned American Airlines Group into the US's biggest airline operator by sales, ahead of United Airlines and Delta. Shortly before it sought bankruptcy protection in 2011, American placed the biggest commercial airliner order in history, split between the US's Boeing and Europe's Airbus. Deliveries of the new, fuel-efficient aircraft, started last year.