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LATAM Airlines reported a steep fall in Q3 profit due to lower passenger demand in Argentina and Brazil as well as higher fuel prices and competition from low-cost airlines. LATAM reported a net profit of $53m for the quarter, down from $160m a year earlier, according to a securities filing. But it said it was maintaining its guidance for the year, expecting an overall operating margin for 2018 of between 6.5 and 8%. It is focused on cost-cutting to offset higher expenses. “We are transporting more passengers with a leaner organization,” a company executive said. Demand in the quarter slowed in Brazil due to a weaker local currency, and demand fell significantly in Argentina, where the local currency faced an abrupt devaluation during the quarter, reducing passengers’ purchasing power. “We carried more passengers in all our markets except Argentina, where we cut capacity this year,” an executive said. Market conditions prompted LATAM to renegotiate commitments for future aircraft purchases, achieving a reduction of $2.3b in fleet expenses through 2021, the company said. The airline will also boost the number of available seats in some of its aircraft by 3% as improving utilization and seat count may allow it to grow with fewer aircraft. Revenue declined by 5% to $2.5b in the quarter compared with the same period in 2017.<br/>

American Airlines didn't get off to a smooth start on one of the busiest travel days of the year. American passengers were greeted with longer lines at airports across the country Wednesday morning when the self-service check-in kiosks temporarily went offline. American spokesman Ross Feinstein blamed the problem on a "brief connectivity issue" with one of American's data centres. Feinstein said no flights were impacted and that the problem was short lived. "We are grateful for our team members in our airports who acted quickly to help our customers check in for their flights at our ticket counters to get them on their way for their Thanksgiving travels," the airline said. "We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and all operations are returning back to normal."<br/>