Industry Experts Say American Airlines Has Room To Make Cuts

American says its losing money hand over foot and needs to get spending under control. News On 6 wanted to know how American compares to other airlines in the industry.

The Airline Data Project is a website run by two MIT scientists who study the airline industry. They say their data shows that American has room to make cuts.

American Airlines announced Wednesday it's cutting 13,000 jobs with around 2,100 of those coming from Tulsa. The airline says it's hemorrhaging money and lost $904 million dollars in December alone.

02/01/2012 Related Story: AMR Spokesman: 2,100 American Airlines Jobs To Be Cut At Tulsa Base

According to the Airline Data Project, the average salary at American is close to $64,000, that's right there with the average of United, Continental, and Delta.

But analysts say the difference lies with the pension and benefits packages.

Employees at American, for example, get an additional $26,000 for their pension and healthcare. The average for the other big airlines is less than $21,000, meaning the rest of the industry has a 22 percent advantage per employee when it comes to health and pension.

Analysts also say that American is making due with far more people on its maintenance staff than other airlines.

Since 1995, American has averaged 105 maintenance staff members per billion of departed seats, that's the number of people who actually fly on the planes. Continental, Delta, and US Airways have averaged 52 staff members per billion of departed seats.

The Airline Data Project says that means American is paying more for labor and getting less work done than its competitors.