DALLAS --
American Airlines said Thursday advance bookings through late summer are down from last year, and it will cut more flights.
Chief Executive Gerard Arpey said American would cut its full-year 2009 capacity about 7.5 percent. That's up from April goal of cutting 6.5 percent, and will require about a 2 percentage point reduction in flights in the second half of the year.
The reductions will take effect in late August.
Arpey said advance bookings through August were down about 2 percentage points from last year.
"That's terribly alarming to me," he said.
Arpey blamed the travel slump on the weak global economy and the swine flu outbreak, which he said devastated American's business in Mexico and dampened travel around the world.
American joined Delta Air Lines Inc., the world's largest airline operator, in announcing deeper capacity cuts than previously planned.
Delta, which owns Northwest Airlines, said it would cut capacity 10 percent this year compared with 2008, instead of the previously announced cut of 6 percent to 8 percent. Delta's reductions will begin in September, after the peak vacation-travel season.
American, a unit of Fort Worth, Texas-based AMR Corp., cut capacity last year. That helped the airline weather the downturn in travel in early 2009 - American left its summer schedule mostly untouched.
But the weak summer bookings convinced company officials they needed to reduce the fall schedule, Arpey said at an investor conference in New York.
Once the cuts are made, American will offer 15.5 percent less capacity - measured in the number of seats times miles flown - in the United States and about 5.5 percent fewer internationally, compared with two years ago.
While it cuts flights, American is trying to replace older planes with new ones that get better fuel mileage. The company said Thursday it will add 84 new Boeing 737 jets through 2011, up from an old target of 76. The planes in its fleet of about 600 are an average of 15 years old.
Arpey also made a plug for American's bid for antitrust immunity to work with British Airways on prices and schedules of trans-Atlantic flights. Arpey predicted that federal regulators will approve immunity, which is opposed by Virgin Atlantic, a rival at London's Heathrow Airport.
And Arpey criticized proposals to raise airline security taxes and impose taxes on carbon-trapping emissions to combat global warming. Arpey said they were illogical when the airline industry is losing billions.
"I'm not thrilled about the notion of a carbon tax or carbon trading or carbon anything at this point," he said. "I think our priority needs to be to get these economies back on their feet."
AMR shares fell 5 cents to $4.59 in trading Thursday.
(This version CORRECTS Corrects quote to 'these economies' sted 'the economy.' UPDATES with closing stock price. Also moving on general news wires.)
