Cheaper fuel helps American Airlines' profit nearly double

American Airlines, Philadelphia's largest air carrier, said Friday that its second-quarter profit nearly doubled to $1.7 billion on cheaper jet fuel.

The Dallas-based carrier, which transports 76 percent of air travelers in Philadelphia, said it would pass some of the gains on to investors by buying back stock. American said it repurchased more than $750 million of stock, and announced an additional $2 billion buyback plan.

Second-quarter revenue fell 4.6 percent to $10.8 billion, slightly below analysts' estimates. But a $1.2 billion savings in fuel costs enabled American to report a record profit.

Southwest, United, and American Airlines said this week that passengers are paying slightly lower airfares than they did a year ago. A key measure of that is how much travelers pay per seat mile. American said passengers paid 6.1 percent less per mile than in the same period last year.

The reasons include: the strength of the U.S. dollar; weakening foreign currencies; less corporate travel among energy and oil-related clients; and increased competition in cities such as Dallas, American's largest hub, where Southwest added flights.

American said net profit was $1.7 billion, or $2.41 per diluted share, compared with $864 million in the first quarter, or $1.17 per share.

"In addition to producing strong financial results, we made a lot of progress integrating our airline," CEO Doug Parker said, referring to the 2013 merger of American and US Airways. Last weekend, American began booking all US Airways travel after Oct. 17 on American's reservation system.