Oct. 15 (Bloomberg) -- American Airlines parent AMR Corp. had a third-quarter operating loss of $360 million as jet fuel climbed to a record. The world's largest airline also said it may buy as many as 100 Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliners.

The loss of $1.39 a share compared with net income a year earlier of $175 million, or 61 cents, the Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier said today in a statement. AMR reported a net profit of $45 million, or 17 cents, including the sale of its American Beacon Advisors investment unit. Sales rose 8 percent to $6.42 billion.

AMR's fourth straight quarterly loss reflects the impact of a 65 percent jump in the average price American paid for a gallon of jet fuel from a year ago, boosting its fuel bill by $979 million. Passenger traffic dropped 5 percent, outpacing a decline in seating capacity.

``While fuel prices have fallen from record-high levels a few months ago, the economic uncertainty, and what that might mean for travel demand, is a serious concern,'' Gerard Arpey, AMR's chief executive officer, said in the statement.

AMR's result was narrower than the average $1.41 per-share loss estimated by 13 analysts in a Bloomberg survey, excluding the Beacon sale proceeds and $27 million in costs for employee severance and lease payments on grounded aircraft.

AMR fell 1 cent to $8.79 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

Option for More

American's initial order for 42 widebody 787-9s, with deliveries starting in 2012, is valued at $8.17 billion before discounts. The airline holds options to order 58 more Dreamliners.

The planes are 20 percent more cost efficient to operate than the older Boeing aircraft they will replace, Henry Joyner, American's senior vice president of planning, said in an interview.

``The 787 is a superb aircraft,'' said Douglas Runte, an analyst with Piper Jaffray & Co. in New York. ``Its combination of lower operating costs and better range than American's existing widebody aircraft will make it a terrific addition to the fleet.''

The 10 largest U.S. carriers are forecast to report a combined loss from last quarter of $1 billion, according to Michael Derchin, an analyst at FTN Midwest Research Securities Corp. in New York.

AMR and Delta Air Lines Inc. are the first major U.S. carriers to report third-quarter results. Delta today said it had a net loss of $50 million, or 13 cents a share.

Softening Demand

American is experiencing softening demand, with fourth- quarter advance travel bookings down about 2 points from last year, Chief Financial Officer Thomas Horton said on a conference call. Domestic bookings are down by about a point and international bookings are down 4.5 points, he said.

``Demand is off, in general, a fair bit for the fourth quarter,'' Horton said.

American said it would cut 2008 capacity by 6.2 percent from 2007, more than the 5.7 percent initially planned. The airline will boost international capacity 0.6 percent, down from a previous plan of 0.7 percent. Domestic capacity will drop 12.5 percent this quarter, more than American's earlier plan of 11 percent to 12 percent.

In 2009, American's capacity will fall 5.5 percent from this year, with domestic seating declining 8.5 percent and international slipping 1 percent. Including its American Eagle regional airline, capacity will drop about 6 percent in 2009 from 2008, AMR said.

Cutting Planes, Jobs

AMR is removing 103 aircraft from service and eliminating about 6,840 jobs. The airline in the second quarter reduced the value of its oldest and least fuel-efficient planes and pulled its American Eagle regional carrier from the market.

American and other U.S. carriers are expected to benefit this quarter from the seating capacity cuts they began in September in response to record fuel prices. The reductions allow airlines to use less fuel and eliminate their cheapest fares.

The carrier's revenue from fees for things like selling food on board and charging for checked bags rose more than 14 percent to $577 million, Horton said, meeting the airline's expectations.

American's cost to fly each seat a mile, a measure of efficiency, rose 22 percent to 14 cents. Revenue on the same basis increased 11 percent as the airline increased fares and added fees. Yield, or the average fare per mile, climbed more than 13 percent.

AMR had $5.1 billion in cash and short-term investments at the end of the quarter as it continued building reserves in expectation of a winter drop in demand.

``As we head into 2009, we need to prepare for the reality that people and businesses may be less willing or less able to spend money on air travel,'' Arpey wrote today in a letter to employees.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mary Schlangenstein in Dallas at maryc.s@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 15, 2008 16:44 EDT