American Airlines, the biggest airline in the world, has announced that they have had a quarterly loss of 883 million euros as the aviation industry battles the soaring prices of jet fuel bills. The second quarter loss of the carrier included a one-off charge of 694 million euros for the dozens of aircrafts that they are retiring. Gerard Arpey, the chief executive of American Airlines, didn’t offer much hope for a recovery, saying that the company is still being severely challenged with the crisis of fuel costs, which has affected the entire industry, and they expect the hardships to continue in the foreseeable future.

The day after Willie Walsh, the owner of British Airways, acknowledged that they would be better off if they avoided being in debt this year is when American Airlines’ loss came. The airline said that it paid 528 million euros more on fuel from April to June than they did during the same period of time last year. Gerard Arpey announced that American Airlines is quickening their efforts to suspend aircrafts, as 34 Airbus jets are to be grounded by the 2009’s winter instead of 2012. The carrier is replacing older planes with more fuel-efficient and modern models, and they have shelved the sale that they planned for American Eagle, their regional subsidiary, until conditions have been improved. Arpey said that while they believe the aviation industry can’t continue in the current form it is in, with the fuel prices of today, they also believe that their decisions and employees’ hard work in the past years have prepared them better to confront the challenges they face.

For more information on American Airlines, visit www.aa.com