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American Airlines posted a Q2 2017 net profit of US$803m, down 15.5% from net income of $950m in the 2016 June quarter, and chairman and CE Doug Parker continues to argue the company is significantly undervalued in the stock market. During a conference call with Wall Street analysts, Parker repeatedly encouraged investors to focus on the long-term value of American and the strength of the US airline industry, rather than shorter-term considerations such as American’s recent pay raise for pilots and flight attendants that is driving up labour costs or fluctuations in airline ticket pricing. “We’re undervalued,” Parker said. “[investors]…can’t just believe that the industry has gotten well, [Investors should] look at American not just on what’s going to happen in the next 3 weeks, but what’s going to happen in the next 3 years”. <br/>

American Airlines expects to complete the roll-out of basic economy fares to its entire domestic network by end-September, as it continues to aggressively price-match its rivals. The carrier, which began selling the no-frills fares in March on some routes, now offers it in 78 markets. About half of all customers offered a basic economy fare opted for a more expensive economy fare, in line with earlier expectations, said executives. American is seeing an average upsell of US$23 per passenger, going up to $40 for close-in bookings. The airline is the last among US mainline carriers to complete the implementation of basic economy fares on domestic markets. Delta Air Lines, the first to offer them, launched it in 2015 while United Airlines completed its roll-out earlier this year. <br/>

American Airlines will do everything it can to keep Qatar out of the US market, CE Doug Parker said Friday. Last month, Qatar Airways expressed intent to acquire about a 10% stake in American Airlines. Friday, Parker said Qatar Airways needs to receive govt approval for its plan and he has not heard any updates. Qatar Airways refiled its request, Parker said, leading him to believe it still has not been approved. Earlier this month, American announced it was cancelling code-share agreements with Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways because they were allegedly receiving "illegal" govt subsidies. "It's not fair, and our job is to make sure that we point out that it's not fair and do everything we can to stop them from being able to expand into our markets and take away American jobs," Parker said. <br/>

IAG has reported a first-half net income of E567m (US$664m), up 2.3% from a E554m profit in the year-ago period, despite strikes and major operational disruption from a power outage. “We’re reporting a very strong performance in Q2, with an operating profit of E805m (before exceptional items), which is up from E555m last year. The underlying trend in unit revenue improved, benefitting partially from Easter and a weak base last year,” IAG CE Willie Walsh said. The exceptional items totaled a E77m hit, compared with a E79m prior-year gain. IAG said these charges were mainly related to severance payments at British Airways, which has also provisioned E65m for compensation and baggage claims from the power failure. IAG said the results marked the group’s strongest quarterly improvement since 2014 <br/>