American To Cut Flights, Lay Off 'Thousands' And Charge For All Checked Luggage | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-05.12.25

Airborne-NextGen-05.13.25

AirborneUnlimited-05.14.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-05.15.25

AirborneUnlimited-05.16.25

Wed, May 21, 2008

American To Cut Flights, Lay Off 'Thousands' And Charge For All Checked Luggage

BIG Layoffs, Capacity Cuts On The Horizon

ANN REALTIME REPORTING 05.21.08 1345 EDT: Things appear to be dire at American Airlines. The Fort Worth-based carrier announced Wednesday plans to slash its flight schedule and workforce, as the airline struggles to cope with high fuel prices.

Passengers will also feel the pain, reports The Associated Press... as the airline will start charging for ALL checked luggage as of June 15. The first bag will cost $15; additional luggage will be hit with the $25 per-bag fee American announced last month.

Elite-level members of American's frequent flier programs will be exempt from at least part of the new luggage fees, as well overseas passengers and full-fare ticketholders. The airline is the first legacy carrier to charge for all checked luggage; it's unclear whether it will be the last, but we wouldn't bet against it.

American also plans to raise other fees by up to $50 per service.

The carrier -- which managed to avoid following its rivals into bankruptcy several years ago -- also plans to cut domestic capacity by as much as 12 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, mostly through the retirement of its oldest MD-82 and MD-83 jets. American had previously forecast a 4.6 drop in Q4 capacity.

Gerard Arpey, chairman and CEO of American parent company AMR, said the changes (and charges) were being made to adapt to "the current reality of slow economic growth and high oil prices."

As for layoffs at the world's largest carrier, Arpey did not cite an exact number... but when he was asked whether he expects the figure to be in the thousands, Arpey answered in the affirmative.

Not surprisingly, shares in AMR fell over 24 percent following Wednesday's announcement, which came during American's annual shareholders meeting.

FMI: www.aa.com

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (05.19.25): Fuel Remaining

Fuel Remaining A phrase used by either pilots or controllers when relating to the fuel remaining on board until actual fuel exhaustion. When transmitting such information in respon>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (05.19.25)

Aero Linx: Piper Aviation Museum Preserving the history and legacy of the Piper Aircraft Corporation and its founding family. In the past three years, the Piper Aviation Museum has>[...]

Klyde Morris (05.16.25)

Klyde Has No Patience... FMI: www.klydemorris.com>[...]

Airborne 05.19.25: Kolb v Tornados, Philippine Mars, Blackhawk Antler Theft

Also: Tentative AirVenture Airshow Lineup, Supersonic Flight Regs, Private Pilot Oral Exam Guide, Boeing Deal The sport aircraft business can be a tough one... especially when Moth>[...]

Airborne-Flight Training 05.15.25: Ray Scholarship, Alto NG, Fighter Training

Also: FedEx Pilots, Army Restructuring, Alaska ANG, Incentive for ATC Hiring EAA Chapter 534 in Leesburg, Florida announced that the 2025 Ray Aviation Scholarship winner is Abdiel >[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC