This is, without a doubt, the most difficult thing I have had to do in my two decades at American.

Without a doubt, the weakening U.S. economy caused a reduction in business travel that affected our performance in the first quarter.

Nonetheless, we look forward to completing the EC review process and then promptly obtaining final approvals from the U.S. and U.K. governments.

Since then, we have vastly strengthened our overall domestic and international route network and have entered into alliances with a number of carriers, all of which will make us a much more vigorous competitor in the west.

Clearly, results such as the ones we reported today are unsustainable. While there are many factors that impacted our results during 2002, including a sluggish economy, high fuel prices, lingering concerns over terrorism and the possibility of a war in the Middle East, the core issue for our company remains a cost structure that is out of step with the revenue environment facing domestic airlines.

With the economy weak and fuel prices still relatively high, we and the rest of the industry were experiencing a very difficult financial quarter even before the September 11 attacks. But the attacks and their aftermath further weakened traffic and had a staggering effect on our overall financial performance.