Carrier to cut capacity by 7.5%
American Airlines is to shed 1,600 jobs in a bid to "right-size" its operation in the face of falling demand.
The carrier said the job losses are part of a package in which its capacity would be cut by 7.5%.
The bulk of the redundancies - 1,200 - will be in flight services but maintenance, airport services and cargo would also be affected.
The airline said the capacity cuts will take effect from August.
Gerard Arpey, American's ceo, said the carrier had expected a 6.5% cut compared to 2008.
But there had been a bigger decline in demand than it had expected.
"As a result, in the second half of 2009 AMR (American's parent company) expects mainline domestic capacity to decline by approximately 7.5% and international capacity to decline by 5.5% compared to the second half of 2008.
"With these latest changes, the Company's second-half 2009 mainline domestic and international capacity will be down approximately 15.5% and 5.5%, respectively, compared to the same period in 2007," Mr Arpey said.
American gave no indication of where the cut in capacity would take place
The carrier said the recession was taking a disproportionate toll on airlines and the industry was facing an "enormous challenges."
Mr Arpey said: "We are not sugarcoating the magnitude of what we - along with every other airline - are up against today in this economic climate. Just the opposite."
He added: "Capacity discipline has been our mantra for many years and it has been one of the keys to our ability to navigate our way through the industry's many storms.
"The cuts we implemented last year have been helpful, and as a result we did not make major changes to our summer schedule.
"But looking forward, we think an adjustment to our fall schedule is warranted, so we are making additional cuts to our schedule beginning in late August."
Mr Arpey said the airline planned to continue "building a presence" in China and India and expand into new markets, like Barcelona and Milan.
He said he was also "more enthusiastic than ever" about the progress the oneworld alliance, of which American was a founding member, is making in becoming the "world's premier global alliance".
He was also still "optimistic" that American's anti-trust immunity application to the US Department of transportation with British Airways, Iberia, Finnair, Malev and Royal Jordanian Airlines would be approved by the end of 2009.
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