American Airlines cut its revenue forecast on Tuesday. The company also fired its chief business officer, Vasu Raja. He will leave his post next month.
American Airlines expects unit revenue to fall by as much as 6 percent year-on-year within the second quarter. Previously, a decline of not more than 3 percent was forecast. The airline also lowered its earnings forecast for the period to between $1 and $1.15 per share. Previously, the forecast was between $1.15 and $1.45 per share.
The airline has lagged behind its competitors delta And United Airlines in financial performance in recent months. United Airlines later Tuesday reiterated its expectation of second-quarter adjusted earnings of $3.75 to $4.25 per share.
Executives from each airlines will speak at a Bernstein conference on Wednesday morning. American Airlines CEO Robert Isom will discuss the airline's plans to alter its ticket distribution technique to drive bookings to its own platforms as a substitute of third-party channels and agencies.
When asked whether American Airlines was facing resistance from corporate customers as competitors reported strong growth in business travel, Isom acknowledged during an April conference call that the airline might have to make changes to the system.
“Look, we still have some fine-tuning to do,” Isom said in the course of the April conference call. “The goal is certainly to maintain all of the cost savings while making sure we maximize revenue. As we look at the first quarter, we'll probably see some of the advantages that our competitors have had because of some of the changes we've made.”
Raja, who has served as chief business officer for just over two years, was recently on leave and an airline spokeswoman said last week that he wouldn’t be leaving the corporate, a move that modified following internal discussions in recent days, in line with an individual conversant in the matter.
Previously, he served as Chief Revenue Officer and headed American Airlines’ network and alliance divisions.
Raja didn’t immediately reply to CNBC's request for comment.
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