American to Cancel Hundreds of Flights, Mostly From D/FW

Oct. 17, 2005
Executives with Fort Worth-based American said Friday that they are extending a reduction in the airline's schedule into January.

Citing the high cost of jet fuel, American Airlines is canceling about 1,800 flights over the next four months, mostly from Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.

Executives with Fort Worth-based American said Friday that they are extending a reduction in the airline's schedule into January. Earlier this month, American cut 15 daily flights -- 12 of them from D/FW Airport -- to save money on fuel. The cuts were all on routes that had multiple daily flights, and none of the destinations lost service entirely.

Those cuts were scheduled to end on Oct. 29, but American executives said Friday that they will continue until the end of January. That means the airline will cancel about 1,800 flights over the four-month period.

"Jet-fuel prices continue to be extraordinarily high," Dan Garton, American's executive vice president of marketing, said in a statement. He said it was a "prudent business decision" to consolidate service in some markets.

"Crude prices have retreated a bit, but jet [fuel] mostly hasn't," airline analyst Jamie Baker of J.P. Morgan Securities said in a report to investors Friday.

The extension does not apply to 22 daily flights cut by American Eagle, the airline's regional affiliate. A final decision on Eagle's schedule is still being considered, spokesman Tim Smith said.

The cities that will lose some daily flights from D/FW include Atlanta, Austin, Denver and Newark, N.J.

Fort Worth Star Telegram

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