Iceland made its voice heard on Wall Street last week when representatives from the FL Group openly criticised the large American company AMR in an open letter to the board.
Parent company to American Airlines, the largest airline in the world, AMR has had a difficult year on the stock exchange with shares falling 26.6 per cent since the beginning of the year.
The Reykjavik-based FL Group has called upon AMR to unlock the shareholder value. As the owner of 8.3 per cent of the company’s shares, they have a special interest in this issue.
FL Group released a statement on its website on Thursday last week saying that, “Simply blaming high fuel costs and investor sentiment is not a sufficient response.”
Instead, the Group suggests that AMR separate out the AAdvantage frequent flyer programme, estimating that such a move could generate an additional shareholder value of over $4 million.
Currently American Airlines was ranked the worst airline in the country by Forbes magazine due to the airline’s frequent delays and bad record for baggage handling.
FL Group has invested in several airlines since its establishment including Icelandair and easyJet. The company manages assets worth approximately $5.2 billion, most of which is in non-Icelandic ventures abroad.