American Airlines Thursday posted another big quarterly loss as the coronavirus pandemic hurt summer travel demand, but the carrier trimmed its cash burn. Revenue dropped 73% in the three months ended Sept. 30 to $3.17b from $11.9b a year earlier. The carrier swung to a $2.4b net loss in Q3 from a $425m profit a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, American posted a per-share loss of $5.54, better than analysts expected. American shares were down 1.4% premarket. The company said it has authorized a stock sale to raise up to $1b. American began furloughing 19,000 employees this month after the terms of $25b federal aid for the struggling airline sector expired. Story has more financial results.<br/>
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IAG, the owner of BA, slashed Q4 capacity and no longer expects to break even during the period as fresh travel restrictions and virus infections keep would-be travelers at home. The airline group, which also includes Iberia and Aer Lingus, now plans to operate no more than 30% of its usual schedule in the three months, according to a statement Thursday. The company had expected to gradually rebuild services and operate at 54% strength in the period. A resurgence in Covid-19 infections that ended a comeback for summer air traffic is now bearing down on the slower part of the year. Airlines have been clamoring for an easing of European travel requirements to spur demand, but with cases rising there’s little sign authorities will comply in the near term. IAG’s shares fell 3.6% as of 8:26 a.m. in London, extending the year’s decline to 77%. This “demonstrates the challenges faced by legacy airlines in managing through the current crisis,” Daniel Roeska, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, said in a note to clients. “Management will need to significantly lower monthly cash burn to avoid significantly depleting resources by next summer.” IAG said it remains well-capitalized with liquidity of E9.3b. The company also reported a Q3 operating loss of E1.3b, with revenue plunging 83%.<br/>
Qantas said Friday that Australian state border closures due to the coronavirus pandemic had cost it A$100m ($71.26m) in earnings in Q1 and would have a negative impact in Q2 as well. The airline is running less than 30% of its normal domestic capacity due to border closures, having earlier expected to be operating around 60% at this time, Qantas CE Alan Joyce said in a speech to the airline’s annual meeting. The airline’s financial year ends June 30, 2021.<br/>
Malaysia Aviation Group, parent of national carrier Malaysia Airlines, has offered employees early retirement as the company continues negotiations with creditors and lessors, state news agency Bernama reported on Thursday. Bernama said it had seen an application form for the scheme, aimed at employees across the airline group including MAB and sister airline among other operations. The group has warned leasing companies that it is unlikely to be able to make payments owed after November and that state fund Khazanah Nasional will stop funding, forcing it into a winding down process if restructuring talks with lessors are unsuccessful, Reuters reported.<br/>