AA Joins Other Carriers In Cutting Service

American Airlines yesterday became the latest airline to announce cuts in service as a result of the war in Iraq the growing respiratory health threat and the economy.

The world's largest carrier said it will lighten its load for May by cutting international service by 13 percent and domestic travel by 2 percent.

Continental, Delta, United and US Airways domestically and Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore and Virgin Atlantic, among others internationally, all have announced service cuts in the past couple of weeks.

AA said it still will provide service to every city in its network, but cut its frequencies. Following last week's brush with bankruptcy, American this month already is operating at a 6 percent capacity reduction compared with last April.

Henry Joyner, AA senior vice president of planning, said the cuts are "in line with reductions we're seeing throughout the industry due to the war in Iraq and economic conditions."

Continental yesterday said that beginning April 12 it will temporarily drop its five weekly flights from Newark Liberty International Airport to Hong Kong following travelers' fears of the recent Asian outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Meanwhile, confirming the slump in travel, the National Business Travel Association today released figures from a survey of 240 corporate travel managers finding that 67 percent of the respondents said their companies have decreased travel in response to the war in Iraq. Other such factors as the recent outbreak of SARS, the threat of terrorism and the sagging economy have led companies to reduce business travel.