US airlines report mixed fortunes

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US airlines have reported mixed fortunes between July and September as they battle to cope with the sluggish economy at home and abroad.

Delta - the world's biggest airline operator - reported a quarterly loss bigger than a year ago and said it would cut capacity by 3% next year.

US Airways also lost money, but less than expected, and saw signs of a "soft but improving economic environment".

Meanwhile low-cost airline JetBlue bucked the trend and made a profit.

It cited lower fuel costs and cheaper fares luring passengers as reasons for its $15m (£9.1m) profit in the period.

Oil worries

Delta - which became the world's biggest carrier when it bought Northwest Airlines in October 2008 - lost $161m in the third quarter, compared with $50m a year earlier, despite sales rising by 32% to $7.6bn.

US Airways lost $80m, compared with the $866m it haemorrhaged between July and September in 2008.

Earlier in the week, American Airline's parent company AMR reported heavy losses for the period - losing $359m including one-off costs, against a profit of $31m a year earlier.

However, Continental and the parent company of AirTran Airways both reported modest profits - citing sharply-lower fuel bills.

Gains in the oil price - currently at about $82 a barrel - have prompted worries about the prospect of higher jet fuel costs in the current quarter.

United Airlines and Southwest Airlines are also among those to have reported losses in recent days - saying they could not charge so much for fares and that they were operating fewer flights.