American Airlines Fights Bankruptcy

[BovineOne]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...-2003Feb4.html

American Airlines is burning through $5 million a day with little relief in sight, making industry experts nervous that the world's largest carrier is increasingly at risk of following United Airlines and US Airways into bankruptcy court.

The financial problem at American is fairly simple to understand: the money it takes in from passengers is down sharply, but the company has not cut expenses fast enough to keep up. What is difficult to gauge is whether executives at American can wring enough costs in the coming months, particularly from employees, to avoid Chapter 11.