Introduction

Scott McCartney and Ben Baldanza take stock of where the airline industry is after a somewhat turbulent first four months. American Airlines eked out a profit of $10 million, but most of its peers had losses in the first three months of the year. American also claimed it was first in on time departures among the nine largest US airlines. It said that its completion factor, the percentage of flights it flew in its schedule without cancellation, was the highest in its history.