American Airlines reported a $2.2 billion loss in the first quarter Thursday following the steep decline in business due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The results included a write-down of older aircraft that American is retiring in the wake of the COVID-19 slowdown, which leading airline executives have described as the worst operating environment in their lifetime.

“Never before has our airline, or our industry faced such a significant challenge,” said American Airlines Chief Executive Doug Parker.

“We have moved quickly and aggressively to reduce our costs and bolster our liquidity.”

The first-quarter loss of $2.2 billion compared with profits of $185 million in the year-ago period.

Revenues dropped 19.6 per cent to $8.5 billion.

American said it expects to reduce more than $12 billion in 2020 operating expenditures through lower fuel costs, reductions in service and other measures.

Almost 39,000 employees took early retirement, paid leave or are voluntarily on reduced work schedules, executives said in a letter to employees.

American received $5.8 billion in a payroll support program run by the US Treasury as part of a $2 trillion US relief package.

The company recently had its assets appraised and believes them to be in excess of $10 billion.