American Airlines’ 2023 passenger revenues were 8.8 percent higher and selling expenses 1 percent lower. Executives said corporate buyers and travel management companies could expect more incentives for business travelers to book directly, more focus on co-branded cards and loyalty, more degradation in support for predominant corporate travel channels.

Customers want “the best content at the lowest expenses to them, and the best servicing,” chief commercial officer Vasu Raja told Wall Street analysts. He said that’s best tackled through “internet-based” distribution, which includes AA’s website, mobile app and NDC-compliant channels. Those bookings were 80 percent of the carrier’s total in the December 2023 quarter versus 55 percent in the same period four years earlier and 78 percent in the quarter ending Sept. 30, 2023.

In the December quarter, AA’s operating margin was down 5.5 points versus a year earlier. Delta’s fell 1.6 points and United’s fell 3.8 points. All three reported between two and three points of growth for the full year.

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