American Airlines Group, the merged entity of American Airlines and US Airways, has announced first quarter profits of $480 million, under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

This, the carrier says its pre-merger 2013 first quarter result was a net loss of $341 million, also under GAAP. The profits were from first quarter revenues of $9,995 million, $206 million of which were from cargo. This is a 32 per cent leap from 2013’s $156 million first quarter cargo revenue. Its cargo ton-miles for the three months was 560 million, up 60 million, or 11.9 per cent, compared to the same period in 2013. American’s cargo yield per ton-mile however, declined by 6.3 per cent to 36.88 cents. “We are very pleased to report a record profit in our first full quarter as a merged company,” says Doug Parker, chief executive officer of the group. “Our team of dedicated professionals did an excellent job of taking care of our customers despite particularly difficult weather conditions throughout the quarter.”Since closing the merger on 9 December last year, the company has joined operations at 58 airports, including Phoenix (US) and Miami (US) hubs and closed the sale of the slot divestitures required by the US Department of Justice at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). The carrier received $381 million in cash from the DCA sales and the sale of slots at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.