American restoring many pre-Sept. 11 flights

By Mary Schlangenstein
Bloomberg News Service

FORT WORTH, Texas — AMR Corp.'s American Airlines is restoring some flights suspended after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and reverting to bigger aircraft on a transatlantic route as the largest carrier sees increased demand.

The airline said it will restore 41 roundtrip flights from Dallas/Fort Worth to 37 cities by March 2. Separately, American said it will resume using Boeing Co. 777 aircraft in April on daily flights from Raleigh/Durham in North Carolina to London, after switching to smaller 767-300s last year.

American also plans to add flights between Oakland, Calif., and New York in March.

American in the past two month has recalled 800 reservations agents and 400 flight attendants as demand began to rise, and today said airport agents and ramp workers also have been called back. U.S. airlines cut capacity about 20 percent and laid off more than 90,000 workers after the Sept. 11 attacks worsened demand already hurt by reduced business travel.

"American is one of the more conservative about their outlooks, so that's a good indicator of a recovery earlier than expected," said Ray Neidl, an ABM Amro analyst with an "add" rating on AMR. "Things usually pick up as we approach spring and summer, airlines are buying traffic (with low fares) and we are seeing an economic and industry recovery taking place."

Industrywide capacity will be down an average of about 13 percent during this quarter from the levels before the September attacks, with the decline narrowing further by the end of the quarter, Neidl said. He owns but doesn't trade airline shares.

Fort Worth, Texas-based American said in a statement that the added flights at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport will increase frequencies on existing routes, restoring late-evening and connecting flights.

The airline said it will begin two daily nonstop flights between Oakland and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on March 2 because of demand in the California city. American already has daily flights to New York from Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose in California.