The 10 largest U.S. passenger airlines reported 433 million U.S. dollars in net loss in the first quarter of this year, said the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) in a report on Thursday.

The result outperformed last year's net loss of 1.7 billion dollars but was worse than the previous quarter's net loss of 144. 5 million dollars.

During the first quarter, U.S. Airways topped other rivals with 69 million dollars in net income, while American Airlines suffered a net loss of 252.8 million dollars, according to the report.

In all, the top ten airlines also posted an operating profit of 438 million dollars and a 1.3-percent profit margin in the quarter. Delta Airlines ranked the first with 323 million dollars in operating profit, while United Airlines took the last spot with 260 million dollars in loss. SkyWest Airlines enjoyed the highest profit margin of 7.7 percent, compared with ExpressJet Airlines' loss margin of 5.7 percent, the lowest in the quarter.

Operating profit is calculated from operating revenues and expenses, while net income includes non-operating income and expenses, nonrecurring items or income taxes, noted the DOT.

As part of the first-quarter revenue, these major airlines collected a total of 800 million dollars in baggage fees and 685 million dollars in reservation change fees.

The 10 airlines, namely Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, American Airlines, US Airways, ExpressJet Airlines, JetBlue Airlines, SkyWest Airlines, Alaska Airlines and AirTran Airlines, carried 80.6 percent of U.S. air passengers in the first quarter of 2013.