American Airlines profit falls on higher operating expenses

NEW YORK (Reuters) - American Airlines on Thursday said its quarterly profit fell by $31 million from a year ago, as operating expenses swelled on the back of higher labor and fuel costs.

American, the No. 1 U.S. carrier by passenger traffic, reported fourth-quarter net profit of $258 million, or 54 cents per share, compared with $289 million, or 56 cents a share, in the same quarter a year earlier.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier's operating expenses climbed 9.8 percent from a year earlier to $9.9 billion, due to a 23.5 percent jump in consolidated fuel expenses and a 7 percent increase in salaries and benefits.

In 2017, American stunned investors by offering its pilots and flight attendants an unsolicited mid-contract pay increase that is set to cost $350 million each year in both 2018 and in 2019.

(Reporting by Alana Wise; Editing by Bernadette Baum)