American to add seats to 174 jets, sees bookings rise FORT WORTH (Reuters) =97 Gerard Arpey, the new chief executive of AMR's=20 American Airlines, said the airline will be adding seats back to about 174= =20 planes by early next year in markets where price is the most important=20 factor for travelers. The move to reconfigure 34 Airbus A300s and 140=20 Boeing 757s is an elimination of the airline's "more room throughout coach"= =20 strategy in some markets, which was launched in 2000. But spokesman Al=20 Becker said 80% of American's capacity will still be operating under the=20 "more room" strategy after the reconfigurations are complete. Arpey said=20 American remains committed to the hub-and-spoke model. The company said=20 changes to the A300s will begin in November, while the reconfiguration of=20 the 757s will take place in February 2004.The revenue picture today bears=20 little resemblance to the year 2000, Arpey told shareholders at the=20 carrier's annual meeting. He outlined the changes as part of what he called= =20 the company's turnaround plan, which American is working on to restore=20 financial health. Arpey took over as American's CEO last month after former Chief Executive=20 Don Carty resigned under pressure following the disclosure of special=20 executive bonuses and pension benefits while the carrier was seeking sharp= =20 pay cuts from unionized workers. The company has been racing to slash costs= =20 after narrowly averting bankruptcy three times in the last two months.=20 American has reduced annual costs by about $4 billion a year though union=20 deals that will save $1.8 billion in labor costs, vendor deals that will=20 save $175 million and $2 billion in other cost savings. Arpey also said=20 bookings for the next 30 days were improving after the industry suffered a= =20 falloff in demand related to the Iraq war and the outbreak of Severe Acute= =20 Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS. "We're encouraged," Arpey said at the=20 shareholders meeting. "Bookings are stronger than they were a year ago."=20 When asked about the company's cash position, Arpey declined to comment on= =20 the specific figure. He noted, though, that the airline had $1.3 billion in= =20 unrestricted cash at the end of the first quarter and has since received an= =20 additional $360 million in federal government aid. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.caribbeanfloral.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************