http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424053111903506304579375173674237240.html#articleTabs_article%3D1
Expect a few bumps as American Airlines Group shares ascend toward cruising altitude over the next 12 months. But don't let that prospect keep you from investing.
Since December, when American emerged from bankruptcy and combined with US Airways, its new stock (ticker: AAL) has risen 42%, almost four times the airline industry's 11% gain in that time. Bullish investors have focused on the fact that the reorganization will clear away $19.6 billion in the old American's debt, and that the merger has created the world's largest airline, with a nice balance of domestic (57% of revenue) and international services, and lots of opportunities to boost revenue and trim costs. Most importantly, it's another step, a giant one, in the consolidation of the U.S. airline industry—United is now linked to Continental, Delta Air Lines (DAL) to Northwest, and Southwest Airlines (LUV) to Airtran—which should provide the pricing stability that has long eluded the volatile industry.