American Airlines Will Cut More Workers, CEO Says

American Airlines, struggling to compete with lower-overhead carriers, will cut more jobs to reduce costs, Chief Executive Gerard Arpey said Wednesday.

The company had already disclosed that it would lay off as many as 650 mechanics and 450 pilots, Arpey reminded investors during a meeting in Fort Worth.

“We will see more cuts across the board, all workers, in the months ahead,” Arpey added.

American and other carriers are losing money as they are squeezed by high fuel costs and tough competition that makes it hard to raise fares. American’s Fort Worth-based parent, AMR Corp., reported recently that it lost $214 million in the third quarter and expected an even bigger loss in the fourth quarter.

AMR would have made money in the third quarter if fuel prices had remained at last year’s levels. Arpey said Wednesday that American would pay about $500 million more for fuel in the fourth quarter than it did during the same period last year.

“Were it not for Exxon getting most of our money this year, we would have been able to make some progress,” he said.

Arpey also blamed the airline industry’s problems on carriers’ continuing to add seats for sale, which has depressed fares.

American has joined the rush, increasing capacity by 2.3% in October from a year earlier. The carrier’s traffic was up 9.1%.

UAL Corp.’s United, Delta Air Lines Inc. and Continental Airlines Inc. all raised capacity in the third quarter compared with a year earlier.

“You would think these were very robust times for the airline industry,” Arpey said.

American has said it will cut its U.S. flight schedule by 5% early next year.

Arpey, who is also chairman and CEO of AMR, said the parent company was still considering selling its investment subsidiary and the commuter airline American Eagle.

AMR shares closed down 21 cents, or 2.5%, at $8.06 on the New York Stock Exchange.