American, United lead traffic drops
From Times Wire Services
American Airlines and United Airlines led declines in April air traffic by four of the five largest U.S. carriers, a sign that the cooling economy and higher ticket prices are restraining air travel.
AMR Corp.’s American and UAL Corp.’s United, the world’s two biggest airlines, had declines of 6.6% and 6.3%, respectively. American’s domestic traffic plunged 8.4% after it was ordered to ground its fleet of MD-80 jetliners for wiring inspections.
The results marked the second monthly slide in traffic, measured in miles flown by paying passengers.
