NEW YORK, June 9, 2026, 19:04 EDT
- American Airlines Group traded at $14.09, up 48.5 cents. Shares moved between $13.64 and $14.38 with volume near 150 million.
- American and Google signed a three-year deal for sustainable aviation fuel certificates covering 35 million gallons. The agreement targets almost 300,000 metric tons in CO2-equivalent cuts.
- Investors stuck with fuel as a key theme, with U.S. airline fuel costs up 78% in April to almost $6.5 billion.
American Airlines Group Inc. ended up Tuesday, with shares rising to $14.09, up 48.5 cents, as the airline posted gains on a day when Wall Street traded mixed. The move came after news of a fuel agreement with Google and with crude prices falling. AAL traded around 150 million shares.
Airlines are facing more scrutiny on how they handle big swings in fuel costs, not just passenger traffic. The U.S. Transportation Department said U.S. airline fuel costs climbed 78% year over year in April to almost $6.5 billion, with average fuel prices at $4.11 a gallon.
American and Google announced a sustainable aviation fuel certificate agreement that will cover 35 million gallons of SAF over a three-year period. The SAFc setup uses a book-and-claim method: American flies on lower-carbon fuel, and then Google, as the corporate buyer, gets credit for the greenhouse gas savings to offset its travel footprint.
American and its partner called this the biggest public SAFc deal so far between an airline and a corporate buyer. American plans to buy and take physical delivery of the fuel at Chicago O’Hare. The sustainable part is made from waste feedstocks like used cooking oil.
American Chief Sustainability Officer Jill Blickstein called the deal with Google “a critical step forward.” Google’s sustainability chief, Kate Brandt, said the long-term agreement was “a vital demand signal” for sustainable fuel. American Airlines Newsroom
Long term, that’s the play. Right now, it’s all about fuel.
Brent crude dropped about 3% on Tuesday, hitting a seven-week low after both Iran and Israel paused attacks. Airlines got some help, but Brent price at $91.45 a barrel, with U.S. crude closing at $88.20, is still high enough to squeeze margins.
American moved higher even as indexes went different ways. The Dow added 0.17%. The S&P 500 slipped 0.26% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.97% after technology stocks sold off again.
Delta added 3.78%, United was up 4.09% and Southwest climbed 5.24%. American’s gain matched the lift across the airline group rather than signaling a move unique to the company.
American CEO Robert Isom said at a Bernstein investor event in late May that the airline isn’t making any changes to its 2026 forecast, despite higher fuel prices expected to raise costs by $4 billion to $5 billion this year. He said corporate travel climbed 13% from a year ago and called leisure demand “incredibly” strong. Reuters
Even so, American keeps lagging Delta and United on profits, a gap now wider with higher fuel prices. United CEO Scott Kirby told Reuters, “Air travel is not a commodity,” saying buyers weigh tech, service, reliability and product, not just the seat. Reuters
But the risk remains clear. A jump in oil or weakness in demand from higher fares could squeeze American further. The airline has already trimmed its 2026 outlook to a possible loss of 40 cents per share or a profit up to $1.10, down from a previous forecast for $1.70 to $2.70 a share.
American has the cleaner-fuel deal with Google to point to for emissions, but the daily story is still classic airline math: fuel costs, airfares, and if summer demand is enough to close the gap. Traders are sticking to the old story for now.
