American Airlines to Trim October Capacity by 55 Percent

It’s been a rough month for American Airlines.

The carrier already announced it was cutting service to 15 cities across the country due to lack of demand.

Then the airline said it will likely have to cut 19,000 jobs after Oct. 1 if the government doesn’t provide a second round of grants and loans to the industry.

Now American says it will reduce its flying capacity in October to 55 percent compared to this time last year as demand for air travel continues to remain low due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are responding to the continual decline in demand, and are evaluating our network to match that in the current environment,” an airline spokesperson told FOX Business.

The industry has been devastated by the virus, to the point where in April capacity was down 95 percent compared to 2019. It is still only back to 75 percent off of last year’s passenger totals at this point.

American, like virtually every other airline, has tried to cull its workforce through buyouts and early retirement.

“We have worked to mitigate as many involuntary reductions as possible through voluntary programs,” a spokesperson told FOX. “Across the mainline and regional carriers, more than 12,500 of our colleagues have made the difficult decision to leave the company permanently through early out programs or retirement. Another 11,000 team members have offered to be on a leave of absence in October.”