Airline losses: American, United report 4th quarter results

American and United are the first two major airlines to report their 2008 fourth quarter and full-year results, and as expected they are big numbers. Analysts are expecting the total damage figure to top $1 billion for the industry, as reported earlier this week in a Dallas Morning News analysis.

United reported it lost $1.3 billion in the last quarter and that it would lay off 1,000 salaried and management employees in additioin to 1,500 who were furloughed earlier. A little more is in the early AP story today. The total 2008 loss isn't in this story, or in this post because it's not in the intitial news release in a place we can find it. We'll update when we do.

American was more forthcoming, reporting a $340 million fourth-quarter loss and a whopping $2.1 billion loss for the year -- all of attributable to last summer's soaring price of fuel. Read more on AMR here.