US Airways joined Delta and United in posting a big second-quarter profit. American Airlines missed the party.

American blames its troubles on high fuel and labor costs and a competitive handicap on international flights.

But overall, the second quarter is shaping up as the airline industry’s best in three years.

Executives say business travel is coming back after the recession. Another big part of the airlines’ newfound success is their willingness to reduce flights, leading to fewer seats and higher fares. The average fare on American, for example, rose 14 percent compared with a year ago.

American parent AMR Corp. lost $10.7 million in the second quarter, a huge improvement over the loss of $390 million in the same period last year. Still, the loss stuck out compared with the combined $1 billion in profits reported by US Airways, Delta Air Lines Inc. and United parent UAL Corp.

Discount airline AirTran reported a smaller profit, and Continental is expected to say today that it also made money last quarter.

American, the nation’s second-biggest airline behind Delta, blamed its loss on a 24 percent spike in fuel costs. But all airlines are facing higher fuel costs.

AMR’s loss in the April-through-June quarter amounted to 3 cents per share. Revenue rose 16 percent from a year ago, to $5.67 billion. Analysts expected a loss of a penny per share on $5.69 billion in revenue.

US Airways, the nation’s sixth-largest airline, said a bump in business travelers who paid higher fares helped it earn $279 million, or $1.41 per share – $1.34 per share without special gains. That beat the $1.18 per share forecast by analysts. Revenue rose more than 19 percent to $3.17 billion.

AirTran Holdings Inc., the owner of AirTran Airways, said Wednesday it earned $12.4 million, down 84 percent from a year ago, as higher costs and bad bets on the price of fuel offset a 16 percent increase in revenue.

Wells Fargo profit up; bad loans ease

Better payment rates for mortgages, auto loans and credit cards helped lift consumer-focused Wells Fargo & Co.’s second-quarter profit by 12 percent.

The San Francisco-based bank on Wednesday joined Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. in reporting earnings that rose in the April-June period as loan losses fell from the prior period.

Wells Fargo, which depends more on consumer banking and doesn’t have the huge investment banking arm of the other big banks, also reported growth in deposits and new accounts, and an uptick in new lending.

“It is early yet to call these sustainable trends, but it is real progress and it is in the right direction,” Chairman and CEO John Stumpf said in a conference call to discuss the results.

Wells Fargo posted net income applicable to common shareholders of $2.88 billion, up from $2.58 billion last year. Before the payment of preferred dividends, net income fell 3 percent to $3.06 billion.

On a per-share basis, profit was 55 cents per share, compared with 57 cents per share last year. That reflects a 17 percent increase in the number of outstanding shares.

The results came in well ahead of the 48 cents per share forecast, on average, by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Morgan Stanley beats forecasts

Morgan Stanley said Wednesday its second-quarter net income rose to $1.58 billion, topping forecasts as its Smith Barney brokerage helped the bank recover from a loss a year ago.

Morgan Stanley joined other banks in reporting that its trading revenue fell from the first quarter, the result of the stock market’s spring plunge. But the company, which was hurt a year ago by a conservative trading strategy and steep losses on real estate investments, was able to beat analysts’ overall revenue and profit expectations for this latest quarter.

Morgan Stanley’s net income after payment of preferred stock dividends rose to $1.09 per share from a loss of $1.10 per share a year earlier, when it lost $1.26 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast earnings of 46 cents per share on revenue of $7.93 billion.