Net income, excluding exceptional items, fell to $1.7 billion, or $1.74 per share, from $1.8 billion, or $1.83 per share, a year earlier.
*Over the past year, major card companies and payment processors have been hit by a near collapse in travel demand and spending on non-essentials during the COVID-19 pandemic.
American said that as of March 26, average bookings for the next seven days had reached 90% of levels experienced before the pandemic upended air travel in 2019, with a domestic load factor of about 80%.
"The Company presently expects this strength in bookings to continue through the end of the first quarter and into the second quarter," it said in a regulatory filing.
"We would be hopeful that we could fly maybe 60, 70% of our normal traffic volumes during the peak summer months ... June, July, August and September," he said. "That's about as optimistic as its going to get."
"We don't need a taskforce, we just need action," O'Leary said. "The real challenge is timing here ... we need to give them the clarity to book their summer holidays."
The company posted a net loss of $2.18 billion, or $3.81 per share, for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a profit of $414 million, or 95 cents per share, a year earlier.
As we look to the year ahead, 2021 will be a year of recovery.