American Airlines’ Parent Posts 17% Increase in Profit

AMR Corp., the parent of American Airlines, reported a 17% increase in second-quarter profit on Wednesday, but said the boost would have been even higher if not for a hailstorm and continued fallout from two winter crashes.

AMR, which is also the parent company for American Eagle and a group of airline service businesses, reported a profit of $179 million, or $2.31 per share, on revenue of $4.31 billion in the April-June period.

A year earlier, the company earned $153 million, or $1.77 per share, on $3.79 billion in revenue.

A late April hailstorm at Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport temporarily grounded about a tenth of American’s fleet. Also, two American Eagle crashes and temporary limitations put on much of the commuter airline’s fleet hurt profit in the quarter.

Profit from the airline business--by far the largest part of AMR--rose 37.6%.

General Motors Corp.’s computer, electronics and finance subsidiaries all reported strong gains in second-quarter profits Wednesday.