American Airlines posted its highest income of the pandemic throughout the fourth quarter as bookings rose, nevertheless it nonetheless reported a loss, because the unfold of the omicron variant harm bookings.

“Over the past year, we have experienced periods of high travel demand countered by periods of decreased demand due to new COVID-19 variants,” American’s CEO Doug Parker, who steps down on the finish of March, mentioned in an earnings launch on Thursday. “This volatility has created the most challenging planning environment in the history of commercial aviation.” 

United Airlines on Wednesday and Delta Air Lines final week warned that omicron would delay the journey restoration.

Parker informed CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that bookings for journeys a month or two away are stronger than present ranges and that fares would possible rise as enterprise vacationers return.

The 12 months was difficult for American and different carriers that attempted to ramp up flying however staffing shortages exacerbated routine issues like climate, resulting in a whole lot of flight cancellations.

American ramped up flight attendant pay for the vacations and supplied bonuses to different employees, a measure different airways took as effectively, even earlier than omicron-related staffing shortages appeared across the year-end holidays.

American mentioned it employed 16,000 folks final 12 months and reiterated its aim to hire 18,000 this 12 months.

American misplaced $931 million within the fourth quarter on income of $9.43 billion, which was down from $11.Three billion in gross sales within the final three months of 2019, earlier than the pandemic. Adjusting for one-time objects, American misplaced $1.42 a share, in contrast with analysts’ estimate of a $1.48 per-share loss.

For the primary quarter, American expects income to be off 20% to 22% from the identical interval of 2019 when it generated $10.6 billion in gross sales. Capacity for the primary three months shall be 90% to 92% restored.

American shares have been down 3% in morning buying and selling.

Here’s how American carried out within the fourth quarter in contrast with what Wall Street expected, primarily based on common estimates compiled by Refinitiv:

• Adjusted outcomes per share: a loss of $1.42 versus an expected loss of $1.48

• Total income: $9.43 billion versus expected $9.38 billion.