AMR Corporation, parent company of American Airlines, reported a net loss of $92 million in the first quarter of 2006, a substantial improvement over its net loss of $162 million in the first quarter of 2005. First quarter 2005 results included a benefit of $69 million related to certain excise tax refunds.

American's cargo revenue edged up 1.4 percent to $186 million despite less capacity and a 3.3 percent decline in cargo traffic, measured in revenue ton miles. The cargo yield, or revenue per ton miles, grew 5 percent over the first quarter last year.

"A loss of any size is never satisfactory," said AMR chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey, "but it is somewhat gratifying to have improved our first quarter results by $139 million year over year excluding last year's excise tax refunds, despite the Company paying $349 million more for fuel because of higher fuel prices during the first quarter of 2006 versus the same period last year."

Overall, AMR's revenue from all sources - passenger, cargo and other categories - grew in the first quarter by $594 million, or 12.5 percent, year over year.

The 143 percent increase in the price of fuel in the past year made progress difficult.