American Airlines made a profit of US$1.7 billion in financial 2019, as rising demand for travel offset costs incurred by the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max.

Full-year earnings were $3.79 per diluted share for the full year.

The carrier also returned $1.3 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and share last year.

Pre-tax earnings were $571 million in the fourth quarter.

Pre-tax earnings excluding net special items for the fourth quarter of 2019 were $679 million, a $90 million increase from the fourth quarter of 2018, or 15.1 per cent year-over-year increase from the same period last year.

“During the fourth quarter, we made important progress to address the issues that impacted our business in 2019, and, thanks to our incredible team, we ended the year with our strongest operational quarter on record,” said American Airlines chief executive, Doug Parker.

“While our results for the quarter reflect this progress, we know there is more work to be done.

“Looking to 2020, we are focused on three key areas.

“First, we will continue to deliver operational excellence and build on our strong fourth-quarter results.

“Our team has done a tremendous job, and we will keep driving improvement in key operational metrics in the year ahead.

“Second, we will deliver those results while growing where we have a competitive advantage in our most profitable hubs.

“And third, these initiatives combined with our capital plan will enable us to drive significant free cash flow in 2020 and beyond.”

Like rivals Southwest and United, American is grappling with the nearly yearlong grounding of the 737 Max.

American said it cancelled 10,000 flights in the fourth quarter alone.