American Airlines, the nation's largest carrier, expects rising revenue in 2006 but faces higher costs, especially for fuel, the chief financial officer said Wednesday.

James Beer declined to predict whether the airline could finally break even after five years of heavy losses.

"We have got an awful lot of cost headwinds," Beer said. "Clearly fuel is going to be the continuing wild card, I would argue, in terms of the overall financial performance of the company."

American is predicting that it will pay an average of $1.95 per gallon for fuel this year, even more than the $1.75 it paid on average last year. In comparison, jet fuel prices were below $1 a gallon for most of 2003, before prices began to rise significantly in 2004.

Beer said 2006 is shaping up as a "robust year" for revenue because some U.S. carriers are cutting back flights which could make it easier to raise fares.

American will also spend about $1 billion this year to service its $20 billion in debt. Beer said paying down debt was a high priority for American, a unit of Fort Worth-based AMR Corp.

Beer made the comments during a media day at the airlines' headquarters.

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