American Airlines parent AMR Corp. and United Airlines parent UAL Corp. reported wider fourth-quarter losses and said they will drop more flights because of slowing demand for air travel.

American and United reduced capacity last year as jet-fuel costs soared and they've continued to scale back as the recession curbs travel. Demand is "under pressure" across the industry, with some customers flying less and others switching to cheaper coach fares, United said Wednesday.

"It's very hard to be optimistic about travel demand given what we know about the economy," said Dan Kasper, managing director of economic consulting firm LECG, Cambridge, Mass. "Maybe expectations for the airlines were a little more optimistic than warranted."

The net loss for AMR, the second-largest U.S. airline, widened to $340 million, or $1.22 a share, from $69 million, or 28 cents a share, a year earlier.

At No. 3 UAL, the net loss widened to $1.3 billion, or $9.91 a share, from $53 million, or 47 cents a share, after it incorrectly bet that jet-fuel prices would rise.

United said it will cut 1,000 additional jobs as it prepares to reduce flying by as much as 9.5 percent this year. Fort Worth, Texas-based American said eight Boeing 737 deliveries are being delayed by a few months. That will reduce its capacity by 6.5 percent, 1 percentage point more than previously planned.

AMR and UAL are the first major U.S. carriers to report fourth-quarter results. Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc., the largest, is scheduled to release results on Tuesday.

AMR's sales fell 3.8 percent to $5.47 billion, the first decline in six quarters. Excluding costs of $23 million for grounding airplanes, employee severance and facility write-offs related to capacity cuts and $103 million for a pension settlement because of pilot early retirements, the loss was $214 million, or 77 cents a share, AMR said. That was wider than the average 70 cents of 13 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

UAL's revenue declined 9.6 percent to $4.55 billion, the first drop in seven quarters. Excluding items related to fuel-hedge contracts and other one-time costs, the loss was $555 million, or $4.22 a share, the company said. That was narrower than the $4.41 average of 12 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

AMR's shares fell $2.48, or 24 percent, to close at $7.98 Wednesday, the biggest daily decline since May 21. Chicago-based UAL slid 71 cents, or 6.1 percent, to $10.91.

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