Like nearly every other airline operating in today's tightened economy, American Airlines is cutting back its capacity. This means that smaller and less profitable routes are going to be subject to downsizing, while under served airports are subject to closing altogether.

People from large hubs such as Miami, Chicago or New York will feel a bit of the effect, but the brunt of the action will take place in small town America. So if you live in a small city served by the airline, now might be a good time to review the cutbacks and make sure that your town isn't getting the ax.

A combination of American and American Eagle will be closing service to the following airports:

• Oakland, Calif
• London Stansted
• Barranquilla, Colombia

• Albany, N.Y.
• Providence, R.I.
• Harrisburg, PA
• Samana, Dominican Republic
• San Luis Obispo, CA.

Additionally, 62 flights out of Chicago, 43 in St. Louis and 42 out of Dallas and New York's Laguardia will be scaled back.

Changes go into effect starting in November, so between now and then you still have time to enjoy the expanded service. Make sure you try out the expanded WiFi while you're on board.

American Airlines may have actually come up with a way to make more money without ticking people off. Instead of charging for a service that used to be free--did anyone say checked bags?--the airline is piloting a system to charge passengers for Internet privileges.

Yep, that's right. While you're winging your way through the skies, you can log on. Need to e-mail? No problem.

You'll also be able to instant message, download videos, and connect to a smart phone through a secured network using your own laptop.

Passengers on one lucky flight today from Kennedy in New York to Los Angeles and a flight from Los Angeles to New York will be able to test the service for free.

In a couple of weeks, American will expand broadband to other flights on Boeing 767-200 jets. Flights to San Francisco and Miami are next.

These Internet capabilities are being developed through a partnership with Aircell LLC. Aircell's network is large enough to handle a whole plane load of Web surfers.

Knowing that you need to diversify in business, Aircell is also working out details with JetBlue and Virgin America for similar services.

American Airline's latest money scheme is one I like. Adding a new service and charging for it instead of wringing money out of folks who used to get the same thing for free seems smarter. The price isn't bad either. Internet will cost between $9.95 and $12.95 depending on the length of the flight.

And in case you're wondering about the chances of pornography showing up on the screen next to you--or on yours, not a chance--at least not much of one. According to the article, the flight attendant will stop the funny business. There are already policies against bringing pornography on the plane. The same applies to Internet, even though such sites won't be filtered out . Blocking them might disrupt service. Mind your manners, and the skies will stay friendly. [via AP]

If you have 150 to 250 of the very best words--whether funny, romantic, thought-provoking, etc. etc., but true--every last word of them, try out your wordsmith mettle by telling your hostelling story.

Hi-USA Golden Gate Council of Hosteling International is celebrating its 50th anniversary by throwing a contest. Here's what you do:

• Think of that story
• Write it down in 150-250 words
• Send it in by July 15

Simple, right?

For your efforts you could win:

• the Grand Prize of one round-trip voucher for international travel on American Airlines valid through March 9, 2009
• a Jury Prize of a Flip Video Camera (there are three of these)
• or an Honorable Mention of a one-year membership to Hosteling International

All winning entries will be published in a commemorative publication.

By the way, the story does need to thematically highlight the mission of the Hi-USA Golden Gate Council. What's that you say? It's to help travelers "gain a greater understanding of the world and its people through hostelling."

Before you send in your ONE entry, make sure you've made it as entertaining, perfectly written, and as relevant to the purpose of hostelling as you can. For further details, click here. To enter online, click here. Let us know if you win. No prize is too small.

Total words of this post: 220

Whenever I've played the "watch the scale game" at an airline check-in, seeing if I'm a winner without going over 50, the magic number, or if I'll have to pull over to the side and repack, it has never occurred to me that the scale might be off.

According to a airline passenger letter that travel columnist Christopher Elliot received and posted on his blog, one Shawn Rabin discovered that his wife's suitcase magically changed weight between Phoenix and Chicago. Not only is Chicago a top 10 destination this summer, but evidently, according to an American Airlines scale, items weigh more there.

Rabin weighed the suitcase at home before he arrived at the Phoenix airport and it weighed 45 pounds. At the airport it weighed 44 pounds. So far, so good, particularly if Rabin and his wife want to feel like they weigh less than they do. Their scale at home weighs one pound heavier. However, by the time the suitcase spent time in Chicago before ending up at the American Airline check-in counter there, the suitcase picked up six pounds. The scale said it weighed 52 pounds which cost Rabin's family $50.

Before you yell out, " souvenirs stupid," consider this. According to Rabin, it was exactly the same suitcase with exactly the same things in it. The suitcase was again weighed in Phoenix after it made it back there and it had dropped down to 47.5 pounds along the way.

Summertime fares giving you the blues? Me too. Tickets to Paris are in the 1200$ range and I'm not having any of it. Such is the nature of high season travel though.

At least American Airlines feels our pain (read: is cutting capacity and trying to generate profit) a little bit. They just released a 10% off coupon code for good for all domestic travel booked through the month of May. That means that the outrageously expensive fare that you were thinking about booking to Chicago is now just expensive. Sweet!

Make sure you combine your well priced ticket with the double miles promotion that American is still running. Maybe the thought that you saved a couple bucks and earned double miles will help alleviate the fact that a barrel of oil now costs more than a month's salary.

Book anytime between now and June 6th for your 10% off using code AAMOBI10. You must travel by June 20.

This has been a week where deal snagging has been a bit elusive and prices are rising.

For example:

• Grant noted American Airlines announcement that it will start charging $15 for the first checked bag.
• Jeffrey gave us details about how we can expect the price of plane tickets to keep going up as the availability of flights go down.
• Aaron made note of the higher gas prices which could affect some travel plans for drivers this three-day weekend.
• Iva has been searching in Moscow for things that are cheap without much luck, unless one considers the subway, vodka and symphony tickets.

But, on the bright side, Tynan was hooked up once more with his beloved Aloksak Plastic Bags which can help pack items more tightly so they can fit in those carry-ons. Plus, they are waterproof so things like your camera won't get ruined. That's money saving.

Now that American Airlines is opting to charge passengers $15 for the first checked bag, as Grant wrote in his post yesterday, there's a huge potential of more people taking carry-ons on the plane. Yep, lots of luck finding overhead bin space. I can see a rush to get in line first when a plane is ready for boarding.

Here are some of my ideas for maximizing the carry-on potential if more airlines follow suit and charge for that first bag. I have tried them and they work. I think I was a pack mule in a past life.

American Airlines yesterday released an internal memo in which they comment on a April 20 incident that involved an AA flight that took off from Dallas, promptly lost a "large panel" on the underside of the plane during its initial ascent, and proceeded all the way to Paris, despite both the captain and crew confirming that they knew something was amiss.

Just what was wrong the crew didn't seem to know until touching down in Paris. And it doesn't seem that passengers were aware that anything was unusual. Several crew members managed to snap photos of the missing panel after landing, and circulated the shots in e-mails. The photos were attached to the internal member that CNN managed to obtain.

The company issued the statement after receiving upset e-mails from passengers, who stumbled upon pictures of the missing panel on the Internet.

All AA is saying is that it is investigating the matter.

What strange things have been found on planes?

Click the image to read the bizarre story...

How much can an airline save on fuel costs just flying a little slower?

JetBlue reckons that by adding two minutes to each of its flights, it saves $13.6 million a year. Southwest is now extending most flights from 1 to 3 minutes, and says it will save more than $40 million. Northwest says it saved about $530 by flying 532 mph instead of 542 mph on one recent Paris-Minneapolis flight (that added eight minutes to the journey).

The Associated Press mentions these figures in a piece about how some carriers are choosing to go it a little slower in this era of insane fuel costs. With jet fuel prices up some 73 percent, to $3.54 a gallon, adding a few extra minutes to normal flight schedules is just one of the ways airlines are coping, along with levying higher fuel surcharges and, of course, increasing fare prices.

United is looking at special software to help pilots choose better routes and speeds and says the software could save the company $20 million a year.

Not all airlines say they have adopted a slowdown approach in order to save on fuel costs. American Airlines, for instance, says it wants to maintain the integrity of its schedules, whatever that means.

It doesn't seem that customers mind too much. Many are surprised to find out that their flight was a tad longer, and they usually agree that a few minutes is not really that big of a deal. Besides, these slight increases in flight times are built into the advertised schedule, along with taxi time and the like, so we probably wouldn't know it anyway.

I am sure that travelers who experienced the recent Heathrow Airport terminal 5 mess probably had a lot of negative comments to make about it. When flights are canceled and baggage is lost, it's hard to stay positive. So we complain, and then complain again when our complaints aren't heard.

When you are a top executive for an airline however, your negative comments regarding an airport are hard to go unnoticed. Such is the case of Don Langford, head of customer services Europe for American Airlines, who recently labeled Heathrow as "the worst of all airports" that American flies to in Europe. That's right folks, Heathrow is officially "a bit of a dump."

Langford's comments come just weeks after American moved most of its London flights from Gatwick to Heathrow. Gauging from Langford's remarks that Heathrow "is not just bursting at the seams. I think the seams have burst," consolidating American's flights to Europe's busiest airport may not have been the best of decisions.

Heathrow operator BAA responded to Langford's comments that "We are investing £4 billion over the next five years..... you've got to realize that if you are going to invest that kind of money it takes time to put things right." Let's hope things get put right real quick.

What strange things have been found on planes?

Click the image to read the bizarre story...