AAMRQ Posts Jan'13 Traffic Update

AMR Corporation ( AAMRQ ) , the parent company of American Airlines recently came out with its revenue and air traffic results for the month of January, 2013.

Consolidated revenue passenger miles in the month grew 1.8% compared with the month a year ago. Domestic revenue from passenger miles registered a 3.0% increase while internationally it grew by 0.1%. Available seat miles grew a mere 0.2%, with an increase in domestic capacity coming in at 0.4% and flat international growth.

Load factor on the domestic front was up 2.0%, and on the international arena it registered a 0.1% growth. On a consolidated basis, load factor grew 1.3% and stood at 78.9%.

In January 2013, the company boarded 8.6 million passengers on a consolidated basis which registered an increase of 2.9% over the year -ago month. Mainline passengers the company boarded were up 3.1% to 7.0 million while regional passengers the airline boarded grew 2.4% to 1.6 million.

Of late, the boards of the company and its merger partner US Airways Group Inc. ( LCC - Snapshot Report ) postponed their meeting that was scheduled to discuss on the final terms of their merger agreement. The merger is expected to create the biggest airline in terms of passenger traffic in the world.

The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2013 is $2.35, reflecting annual growth of 705.6%.

AMR Corporation currently bears a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Other stocks to watch out for in the industry are Deutsche Lufthansa Aktiengesellschaft ( DLAKY ) and Republic Airways Holdings Inc. ( RJET - Snapshot Report ) , each with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).