US airline giants United and American have announced hundreds of job losses as they pursue plans to scale back flying schedules.

United Airlines will lay off 352 pilots by early February, while American Airlines will axe 1,100 flight attendant jobs.

Meanwhile, flight attendants working for a third giant, US Airways, have demanded cuts to executive pay before they will negotiate further cuts to their own pay and benefits.

US carriers have already laid off thousands of workers as they struggle to cut costs in the face of a slump in air travel in the wake of the 11 September attacks.

Voluntary redundancies

American Airlines, the world's largest carrier, said it would offer its flight attendants voluntary redundancy packages and options such as job sharing and early retirement.

If not enough people were to volunteer, the airline would start laying off flight attendants on 1 February, beginning with its most recently hired attendants.

"Those people that are at the bottom of the seniority list are very concerned," said George Price, spokesman for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants.

Executive pay cuts

United Airlines said the latest lay offs of pilots would take place by early February, bringing total job losses among its pilots to 1,196.

"This is a very difficult announcement to make because of the impact it will have on our employees and their families," said United's Steve Forte, senior vice-president for flight operations.

United's pilots had already accepted pay cuts in an effort to keep the carrier afloat amidst concerns that it may be forced to file for bankruptcy protection.

As part of its efforts to slash costs further, United said savings of $60m would be made by eliminating eight executives and by cutting the pay to the remaining 36 executives by 11%.

"[United Airlines' parent] UAL's liquidity is very constrained," credit rating agency Standard & Poor's said on Tuesday.

US Airways filed for bankruptcy protection in August.