American Airlines reported record quarterly revenue driven by a surge in consumer travel demand this summer, the group said on Thursday.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier reported net income of $476mn, or $0.68 per share, in line with analyst estimates, on revenue of $13.4bn, “the highest in company history,” chief executive Robert Isom wrote in a note to employees on Thursday.

Revenue was up 12.2 per cent over the same period of 2019 despite American flying 8.5 per cent less. On an adjusted basis, the airline posted its first quarterly profit since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Despite a boost from higher air fares, “the operating environment this quarter was tough,” Isom said. Weather issues throughout June “had a ripple effect throughout our operation”.

The largest US carrier “will continue to limit capacity to the resources we have and the operating conditions we face,” he said.

Summer flight schedules were thrown into disarray in recent weeks as airlines struggled to scale up operations to meet customer demand. Carriers cited staffing issues, inclement weather and air traffic control snarls among their problems.

American predicted a profitable third quarter, thanks to strong domestic leisure demand and an improvement in corporate, government, and international revenue.

Rival United Airlines yesterday reported its first profitable quarter since the start of the pandemic, too, but scaled back its flight expansion plans for 2023.

American consumed 997mn gallons of fuel in the second quarter at about $4.03 per gallon. The carrier expects fuel prices to moderate to between $3.73 and $3.78 per gallon in the third quarter.

The airline again stopped short predicting profitably for the full year. It expects to fly 7.5 to 9.5 per cent less in 2022 than in 2019.