American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL) reports its fourth-quarter and full year 2017 results, including these highlights:

• Reported a full year 2017 pre-tax profit of $3.1 billion, or $3.8 billion excluding net special items1, and a full year net profit of $1.9 billion, or $2.4 billion excluding net special items
• Reported a fourth-quarter 2017 pre-tax profit of $425 million, or $739 million excluding net special items, and a fourth-quarter net profit of $258 million, or $455 million excluding net special items
• 2017 earnings were $3.90 per diluted share, or $4.88 per diluted share excluding net special items. Fourth-quarter earnings were $0.54 per diluted share, or $0.95 per diluted share excluding net special items
• Accrued $241 million for the company’s profit sharing program in 2017, including $46 million in the fourth quarter
• Returned $1.7 billion to shareholders in 2017, including the repurchase of 33.9 million shares and dividend payments of $198 million.

Pre-tax earnings excluding net special items for the fourth quarter of 2017 were $739 million, a $34 million decrease from the fourth quarter of 2016. For the full year 2017, pre-tax earnings excluding net special items were $3.8 billion, a decrease of $1.2 billion from 2016.

“2017 was a remarkable year for American Airlines. We made enormous progress as a company as we continued to make significant investments in our team members, product and operation, and those investments are beginning to pay off,” said Chairman and CEO Doug Parker. “Our operation continues to deliver record-setting performance for the company, and the credit goes to our team members who are simply the best in the business.

“We enter 2018 with strong momentum. Demand for American’s reliable, friendly service remains strong, our network is expanding, and the products we are bringing to market are resonating with customers.”