Here's an interesting link on aa.com:
https://www.aa.com/content/amrcorp/c...urements.jhtml
According to their example, they operated at a loss of 0.6 cents/mile last year. Perhaps that was mitigated by other income, but I don't know.
In any case, that was last year...this year has definitely been worse for AA and others. As has already been stated, airlines provide a service and even for what they're charging now it's relatively cheap. I know for certain I can't drive the places I want to go--on the schedule I want to do it in--for as little as it costs me to fly. And I'd be surprised if that weren't the case for most of us.
I am quite invested in AA; I am also quite willing to pay reasonable prices to keep them in business--so far, they haven't disappointed. YMMV, etc., etc.
cheers!