American Airlines' first-quarter profit down 25 percent

American Airlines Group, the world's largest air carrier, reported on Friday a 25 percent decline in its net profit for the first quarter of this year.

The Texas-based company said in a report that its first quarter earnings dropped to 700 million U.S. dollars from 932 million dollars in the same period of last year, citing increasing competition that has dampened revenues.

Although the company has managed to save more than 600 million dollars of its fuel bill on falling oil prices, that was not enough to swallow up a 4 percent fall in operating revenue, which stood at 9.4 billion dollars.

Chief Executive Officer Doug Parker said he was disappointed in the company's revenue performance on an absolute level and in comparison with its peers.

The company did not view the current revenue trends as acceptable or long term, said Parker, stressing his optimism about the company's future performance as it continues its integration with U.S. Airways following a 2013 merger.

On Thursday, Texas-based Southwest Airlines reported a first quarter profit of 511 million dollars, a 13 percent increase over last year.

United Airline's first quarter earnings dropped by 38 percent to 313 million dollars, while Delta Airlines' first quarter net income rose by 27 percent to 946 million dollars. Endi