American Airlines Lands on Record Low Amid International Flight Cuts

American Airlines is cutting 75% of its international flights through May 6

American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL) is zooming lower this morning, following a brief respite last Friday, after the flight concern said they would slash 75% of its international flights through May 6 as a response to the dwindling demand for air travel. The news has AAL down 13.5% to trade at another record low of $12.37, bringing its year-to-date deficit to 57.4%.

J.P. Morgan Securities chimed in, slashing its price target to $34 from $42, still well above AAL's current perch. In fact, the consensus 12-month target price of $27.47 is a whopping 122% premium to current levels, while the six of the 11 analysts in coverage consider the equity a "buy" or better.

Short sellers, meanwhile, have been clamoring towards American Airlines. Short interest surged 46.6% in the last reporting period and now makes up 10.9% of the stock's available float.

Earlier this month we discussed a big uptick in bearish bets in American Airline's options pits, and it appears that this momentum isn't slowing down either. AAL sports a 10-day put/call volume ratio of 0.91 at the the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which sits higher than 97% of all other readings from the past year, implying a much bigger appetite for long puts of late.