Originally Posted by DoNoHarm

To a casual observer, maybe. But to people that actually understand things like economics, finance, and accounting, things are not bad at all.

How many aircraft do United and Delta have on order that are not on their balance sheet yet? AA has almost zero. It's just a numbers game. AA has the largest fleet and newest fleet, and has already paid off a huge chunk of it. The others will be in a much worse position once they put that debt on their balance sheet.

AA is showing a loss for tax purposes as it depreciates its aircraft and pays them off. They will get a huge tax check back this year because of it, and have actually gained revenue in the terms of assets.

Here's an over simplified version of what is happening (doesn't work exactly like this, but it is the same theory). Let's say you own a construction business and are doing well. Would you rather pay $250,000 in taxes at the end of the year, or purchase equipment and depreciate it so you actually have an extra $300,000 in expenditures and show a loss. You still made the same profits as a company, but chose to hide them into scheduled depreciation and purchases.

Now, in the future, you have more cash on hand (you didn't need to pay the $250,000 in taxes), have additional equipment that you will use to make you more money, and are better set for the years to come. Your company is worth more as a whole than it was before, and is much healthier. Even though you showed a loss the previous year.