American Airlines Group has reported pre-tax earnings for the third quarter, excluding net special items, of $688 million.

The figure is a $485 million decrease from the third quarter of 2017, driven by higher fuel prices.

Net profit totalled $341 million, or $523 million excluding net special items.

Revenue was $11.6 billion for the period, up 5.4 per cent.

Third-quarter 2018 earnings were $0.74 per diluted share, or $1.13 per diluted share excluding net special items.

“Strong demand for American’s service led to record revenue in the third quarter and our eighth consecutive quarter of unit revenue growth.

“Our team continues to do an outstanding job of taking care of our customers, including during difficult situations such as Hurricanes Florence and Michael,” said American chairman Doug Parker.

“Unfortunately, higher fuel prices increased our expenses by approximately $750 million versus the third quarter of 2017, which led to a decline in earnings.”

Pre-tax earnings excluding net special items for the third quarter of 2018 were $688 million, a $485 million decrease from the third quarter of 2017, driven by higher fuel prices.

In addition, the company’s third-quarter pre-tax earnings were negatively impacted by Hurricane Florence by approximately $50 million.

Parker added: “We have moved quickly to adapt to the higher cost environment with lower planned capacity growth, the cancellation of unprofitable flying, deferral of new aircraft deliveries and continued aggressive cost management.

“We have significant revenue growth opportunities through initiatives such as expanded product segmentation, harmonisation of aircraft configurations and high-margin growth prospects in our most profitable hubs.

“We are confident these actions will return American to both revenue outperformance and earnings growth in 2019 and beyond, and we remain very bullish on the future of American Airlines.”