AMR Corp.'s regional affiliate, American Eagle, has canceled 558 scheduled flights this month because of rising jet fuel costs, an airline spokesman said Wednesday.
The canceled flights, about 22 per day, represent just over 1 percent of American Eagle's schedule of 1,700 daily flights.
The airline said it had examined markets where there were several daily flights and where it would be able to rebook passengers to still allow them to make connecting flights. The airline said it had not cut service to any cities.
American Eagle spokesman Dave Jackson said the airline's action mirrors that of American, which announced it was temporarily cutting 15 round trips in markets it serves from its two largest hubs, Chicago's O'Hare and Dallas-Fort Worth international airports.
Delta Air Lines Inc. also culled some flights from its schedule for two weeks this month to help conserve fuel expenses. Northwest Airlines Corp. cut some international flights because of high jet fuel costs.
Jackson said the move is the latest in fuel-conservation efforts by American Eagle. The airline already was using only one engine to taxi onto the runway and was using ground power instead of jet power when the plane was at the gate.
"Airplanes use a lot of fuel on the ground," he said. "I can tell you the price of fuel has jumped so dramatically over the past several months that those efforts weren't enough for us to avoid also canceling flights."
The cancellations began Oct. 5 and will last through Oct. 29. Jackson said 200 to 250 of the canceled flights were to or from DFW.
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