American Airlines CEO says industry in worse shape than a year ago

The chief executive of American Airlines said Wednesday the industry is in worse shape than a year ago due to low fares and higher fuel costs.

Gerard Arpey said, however, that American was making progress by reducing costs and finding new ways to raise fees. He noted that parent company AMR Corp. has reduced its losses for more than a year. Arpey made the comments at AMR’s annual shareholders meeting.