AMR’s Net Soars for Quarter

The parent company of American Airlines Inc. reported Wednesday that its quarterly earnings more than tripled, fueled by improved market conditions during the normally weak quarter.

AMR Corp. reported net earnings of $68.4 million for the first three months of 1988, up from $19.9 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

First-quarter revenue increased by 30.2% to $1.96 billion, from $1.5 billion in the same period a year ago.

“Normally, the first quarter is a period of weak traffic and rather broad discounting. This year, we experienced both strong demand and strong revenues,” Chairman Robert L. Crandall said.

The average amount of revenue per passenger mile increased by 11% from the prior year to 11.53 cents, while revenue passenger miles jumped 21.5%.

American, headquartered in Dallas, serves 160 cities worldwide.

Meanwhile, Air France, France’s state-owned airline, said its consolidated net income more than doubled last year to a record $214 million from $100 million in 1986.