Juxtaposed against loses at its US counterparts, American Airlines posted a third-quarter profit of US$45 million thanks to extraordinary gains that held back the flood of red ink. The Fort Worth, Texas-based airline’s income was buoyed by a US$432 million gain from the sale of its wholly owned investment advisory services company, American Beacon Advisors. The airline also took US$27 million in severance and other charges tied to capacity reductions that took effect this fall.

American’s profit was down from the US$175 million the company earned during the same period last year. Overall, American paid US$1.1 billion more for fuel during the most recent third quarter when compared to the same quarter a year ago.

Moving forward, American’s leadership says the company will continue to focus on capacity discipline in 2009, with consolidated system capacity expected to fall more than 9 per cent when compared to the company’s 2007 levels, and 6 per cent when compared to 2008 levels.

Mainline capacity also is expected to drop 9 per cent when compared to 2007 levels, and 5.5 per cent when compared to 2008. Regional affiliate capacity also is forecasted to drop 14.5 per cent as compared to 2007 levels, and 9.5 per cent when compared to 2008.