America West Suffers a Loss of $30.9 Million

America West Airlines announced Wednesday that it lost $30.9 million in the second quarter and is launching a $100-million cost-cutting program.

As part of the cutbacks, it is moving up to Aug. 25 from Sept. 7 the previously announced termination of its service to Fresno, Santa Barbara and the Grand Canyon area.

It will drop service today to Bakersfield and Palmdale, plus three other destinations: New York’s LaGuardia Airport, San Antonio and Grand Junction, Colo.

America West, which went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection June 27, said its loss contrasted with a profit of $6.1 million in last year’s second quarter. Revenue was $378.5 million, compared to $326.1 million a year ago.

Although acknowledging that the results are disappointing, President and Chief Operating Officer Michael J. Conway noted that the loss was an improvement over the nearly $50-million loss in the first quarter.

The carrier said its cost-cutting programs include a companywide pay freeze that began July 1, companywide salary cuts effective Aug. 1 and an as-yet-unknown number of staff cuts. It notified about 500 customer service representatives last week that they might be laid off.

The airline also expects to cut the size of its fleet to between 90 and 100 aircraft from the current 115.