Financial Results for Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2020:
The information provided in the financial tables and related notes on numbered pages 6 through 13 (inclusive) of Exhibit 99.1 furnished herewith is incorporated by reference into this Item 8.01 as if fully set forth herein.
Demand and Capacity Outlook:
The Company will continue to match its forward capacity with observed bookings trends. Compared to the first quarter of 2019, American Airlines, Inc. expects its first-quarter system capacity to be down 45%, with total revenue expected to be down 60 to 65%.
JetBlue Alliance:
In 2020, we announced our intention to enter into a marketing relationship with JetBlue Airways Corporation (JetBlue). This arrangement, once implemented, will include an alliance agreement with reciprocal codesharing on domestic and international routes from New York (John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), La Guardia Airport (LGA), and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)) and Boston (BOS), and will provide for reciprocal loyalty program benefits. The arrangement does not include JetBlue's future transatlantic flying. Pursuant to federal law, we and JetBlue submitted our proposed alliance arrangement to the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) for review. After we, JetBlue and the DOT agreed to a series of commitments, the DOT terminated its review of the proposed alliance. The commitments include growth commitments to ensure capacity expansion, slot divestitures at JFK and at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in Washington, D.C., and antitrust compliance measures. Beyond this agreement with the DOT, we and JetBlue will also be refraining from certain kinds of coordination on certain city pair markets. In addition to the DOT review, the U.S. Department of Justice and the New York Attorney General are investigating this proposed alliance, which remains ongoing. We and JetBlue intend to cooperate with those investigations, but are proceeding with plans to implement this alliance. No assurances can be given as to any benefits that we may derive from any of the foregoing arrangements or any other arrangements that may ultimately be implemented, or whether or not regulators will, or if granted continue to, approve or impose material conditions on our business activities.
COVID-19 Update:
The outbreak and global spread of COVID-19 has resulted in a severe decline in demand for air travel which has adversely impacted our business, operating results, financial condition and liquidity. The duration and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, and similar public health threats that we may face in the future, could result in additional adverse effects on our business, operating results, financial condition and liquidity.
The COVID-19 outbreak, along with the measures governments and private organizations worldwide have implemented in an attempt to contain the spread of this pandemic, has resulted in a severe decline in demand for air travel, which has adversely affected our business, operations and financial condition to an unprecedented extent. Measures ranging from travel restrictions, including testing regimes, “stay at home” and quarantine orders, limitations on public gatherings to cancellation of public events and many others have resulted in a precipitous decline in demand for both domestic and international business and leisure travel. In response to this material deterioration in demand, we have taken a number of aggressive actions to ameliorate our business, operations and financial condition. We have focused on reducing our capacity, making structural changes to our fleet, implementing cost reductions, preserving cash and improving our overall liquidity position. We have reduced our system-wide
capacity and will continue to monitor conditions and to proactively evaluate and adjust our schedule to match demand. Additionally, we have retired certain mainline aircraft earlier than planned, including Airbus A330-200, Boeing 757, Boeing 767, Airbus A330-300 and Embraer 190 aircraft as well as regional aircraft, including certain Embraer 140 and Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft, which we expect will allow us to be more efficient by reducing the number of sub-fleets we operate, and we have also placed a number of Boeing 737-800 aircraft into temporary storage. We have moved quickly to attempt to better align our costs with our reduced schedule and made other cost-saving initiatives (including reductions in maintenance expense, marketing expense, event and training expense, airport facilities expense, salaries and benefits expense, and other volume-related expense reductions, including fuel). Nonetheless, we incurred significant negative operating cash flow in 2020, we continue to do so, and we expect to continue to do so until there is a significant recovery in demand for air travel. The duration and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic remain uncertain, and there can be no assurance that any of the mitigating actions we have taken will suffice to sustain our business and operations through this pandemic.
We have taken and will take additional actions to improve our financial position, including measures to improve liquidity, such as obtaining financial assistance under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) and Subtitle A of Title IV of Division N of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (PSP Extension Law). In 2020, we received approximately $6.0 billion in financial assistance from the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) through the payroll support program (PSP1) established under the CARES Act. Subsequently, in January 2021, we received an additional $1.5 billion of financial assistance from Treasury through the payroll support program (PSP2) under the PSP Extension Law. In connection with the financial assistance we have received under PSP1 and PSP2, we are required to comply with certain provisions of the CARES Act and the PSP Extension Law, including the requirement that funds provided pursuant to PSP1 and PSP2 be used exclusively for the continuation of payment of employee wages, salaries and benefits; the requirement against involuntary furloughs and reductions in employee pay rates and benefits through March 31, 2021; the requirement to recall employees involuntarily terminated or furloughed after September 30, 2020; the requirement that certain levels of commercial air service be maintained; provisions prohibiting the repurchase of AAG’s common stock and the payment of common stock dividends through March 31, 2022; and restrictions on the payment of certain executive compensation until October 1, 2022. Additionally, under PSP1 and PSP2, we and certain of our subsidiaries are subject to substantial and continuing reporting obligations. In addition, we received a secured loan from Treasury under the loan program pursuant to the CARES Act that is due in June 2025 and, as a result, the stock repurchase, dividend and executive compensation restrictions will remain in place through the date that is one year after such secured loan is fully repaid even if the restrictions imposed by PSP1 and PSP2 had previously lapsed. The substance and duration of these restrictions may materially affect our operations, and we may not be successful in managing these impacts.
We intend to pursue the issuance of additional unsecured and secured debt securities, equity securities and equity-linked securities and/or the entry into additional bilateral and syndicated secured and/or unsecured credit facilities, among other items. There can be no assurance as to the timing of any such financing transactions, which may be in the near term, or that we will be able to obtain such additional financing on favorable terms, or at all. Any such actions could be conducted in the near term, may be material in nature, could result in the incurrence and issuance of significant additional indebtedness or equity and could impose significant covenants and restrictions to which we are not currently subject.
The measures we have taken to reduce our expenditures and to improve our liquidity, and any other strategic actions that we may take in the future in response to the COVID-19 pandemic may not be effective in offsetting decreased demand, and we may not be permitted to take certain strategic actions that we believe are beneficial if such strategic actions are in contravention of the requirements under the CARES Act, the PSP Extension Law or the Treasury loan program, which could result in a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
The full extent of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our longer-term operational and financial performance will depend on future developments, many of which are outside our control, including the effectiveness of the mitigation strategies discussed above; the duration and spread of COVID-19, including recurrence of the pandemic, and related travel advisories, restrictions and testing regimes; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on overall long-term demand for air travel; the impact on demand and capacity which could result from government mandates on air service (including, for instance, requirements for passengers to wear face coverings while traveling or have their temperature checked or have administered COVID-19 tests and other checks prior to or after entering an airport or boarding an airplane, or which would limit the number of seats that can be occupied on an aircraft to allow for social distancing); the impact of COVID-19 on our employees’ ability to work because they are quarantined
or sickened as a result of exposure to COVID-19 or if they are subject to additional governmental COVID-19 curfews or "stay at home" health orders or similar restrictions; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial health and operations of our business partners and future governmental actions, all of which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted. At this time, we are also not able to predict whether the COVID-19 pandemic will result in permanent changes to our customers' behavior, with such changes including but not limited to a permanent reduction in business travel as a result of increased usage of "virtual" and "teleconferencing" products and more broadly a general reluctance to travel by consumers, each of which could have a material impact on our business.
In addition, an outbreak of another disease or similar public health threat, or fear of such an event, that affects travel demand, travel behavior or travel restrictions could adversely impact our business, financial condition and operating results. Outbreaks of other diseases could also result in increased government restrictions and regulation, such as those actions described above or otherwise, which could adversely affect our operations.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Information
Certain of the statements contained in this report should be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act, the Exchange Act, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “could,” “should,” “would,” “continue,” “seek,” “target,” “guidance,” “outlook,” “if current trends continue,” “optimistic,” “forecast” and other similar words. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the Company’s plans, objectives, expectations, intentions, estimates and strategies for the future, and other statements that are not historical facts. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s current objectives, beliefs and expectations, and they are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results and financial position and timing of certain events to differ materially from the information in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those set forth in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 (especially in Part I, Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, and Part II, Item 1A. Risk Factors), and other risks and uncertainties listed from time to time in the Company’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There may be other factors of which the Company is not currently aware that may affect matters discussed in the forward-looking statements and may also cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed. In particular, the consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak to economic conditions and the travel industry in general and the financial position and operating results of the Company in particular have been material, are changing rapidly, and cannot be predicted. The Company does not assume any obligation to publicly update or supplement any forward-looking statement to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting these forward-looking statements other than as required by law. Forward looking statements speak only as of the date hereof or as of the dates indicated in the statement.