Capacity cutbacks, fare sales and another round of Wall Street housekeeping chipped away at US airlines, underscoring the financial hurdles facing the industry in the second half of the year.
Delta Air Lines, America's third-largest airline, said it will cut capacity by 1.4 per cent by removing 10 aircraft from scheduled service in response to steep fuel prices, a slowing US economy and the high cost of maintaining older planes. Northwest Airlines chief executive Richard Anderson said workforce reductions were inevitable as the No. 4 US carrier cuts back on its operations. Anderson would not provide details. The US airline industry is grappling with the sharpest revenue decline in two decades as a slowing US economy curtails lucrative corporate travel. Higher yield business travel provides as much as two thirds of airline revenue. Aviation experts see no quick cure for the industry's ailments.