American Airlines Group’s May total revenue passenger miles were 19.9 billion, a record and 2.6 percent higher than May 2016.
An airline’s traffic, or revenue passenger miles, is measured by each paying passenger transported one mile.
Capacity and passenger load also increased from last year. Capacity jumped 2.3 percent to 24.3 billion available seat miles. Passenger load factor grew by 0.2 percent, to 82.1 percent.
Cargo ton miles grew 16.8 percent from May 2016.
American Airlines forecasts second quarter revenue per available seat mile will reach between 3.5 percent and 5.5 percent year-over-year while its pre-tax margin excluding special items will reach between 12 percent and 14 percent.
Hawaiian Airlines also saw an increase in May, with total revenue passenger miles rising 8 percent to 1.37 million. Actual passengers grew to 966,179, a 5.1 percent increase.
Capacity grew 5 percent to 1.58 billion while passenger load factor increased 2.4 percent to 86.7 percent.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has revised its 2017 profitability outlook. Revenue is now forecasted to reach $743 billion with profits reaching $31.4 billion.
“Demand for both passenger and cargo business is stronger than expected,” IATA Director General Alexandre de Juniac said. “While revenues are increasing, earnings are being squeezed by rising fuel, labor and maintenance expenses.”