American Airlines, the largest United States carrier, will start charging US$15 for the first checked bag, cut domestic flights and lay off workers as it grapples with record-high fuel prices.

But rival Delta Air Lines Inc does not plan to match American's fee for the first checked bag, a spokeswoman said.

American said Wednesday the fee for the first checked bag starts June 15 and that it would raise other fees for services ranging from reservation help to oversized bags.

Frequent flyers

The other fees will mostly range from $5 to US$50 per service, the airline said.

Last month American announced it would join other carriers in charging US$25 for second bags checked for some passengers, but it wasn't immediately clear how Wednesday's announcement would affect that.

Its proposed fee for a first checked bag would exempt people who belong to elite levels of its frequent flyer programmes, those paying full-fare tickets and those traveling overseas.

The planned fee on the first checked bag immediately ran into resistance. Delta spokeswoman Betsy Talton said the Atlanta-based airline is considering all of its options in light of US$130-a-barrel oil, but doesn't plan to match the US$15 fee American announced.

Job cuts

American plans to cut domestic flight capacity by 11 per cent to 12 per cent in the fourth quarter.

American had previously expected fourth-quarter capacity to fall 4.6 per cent from the same period in 2007.

Parent AMR Corp said reduced flying will lead to an undisclosed number of job cuts at both American and its American Eagle subsidiary.