In 2015, American Airlines Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co. will end the year with about the same number of airplanes they had at the beginning of the year or fewer.

Even so, they’ll fly more capacity in 2015 than in 2014.

How? By putting more seats in their airplanes, replacing smaller airplanes with bigger airplanes or flying their airplanes more often or on longer trips — efficient ways for the carriers to boost productivity, even if coach passengers may feel even more squeezed.

“Almost all of our capacity growth domestically is about putting more seats on airplanes,” American Airlines president Scott Kirby said Tuesday at an investment conference sponsored by J.P. Morgan Chase.

Delta Air Lines Inc. president Ed Bastian, speaking at the same conference, said much of Delta’s increased productivity has come from “upgauging” — using larger airplanes or putting more seats on airplanes.

“While we’ve done a lot of upgauging in terms of getting cost efficiencies and productivity in our fleet, I still think we’re in the mid-innings of our upgauging effort,” Bastian said. “That will continue to drive increased cost productivity results over the next two to three years.”

Southwest Airlines chief financial officer Tammy Romo said the carrier’s fleet will remain around 700 airplanes at year’s end. But it expects to operate 2 percent more flights, with 2 percent more seats per flight, with longer flights on average.

That should increase Southwest’s capacity — measured in available seat miles flown — by 7 percent over 2014, even with about the same number of aircraft, she said.

The subject of capacity growth is a ticklish one for investors, who fear that the industry’s current boom in profit will prompt some airlines to lose “discipline” — a euphemism for adding more capacity than demand will support.

Passenger unit revenue, or revenue per mile per seat, has grown little or in some cases has shrunk in the first quarter, with increased capacity getting much of the blame.

However, American’s Kirby said the boost in 2015 capacity, estimated at 5 percent on domestic routes, is “a one-time event.”

“It’s distinct from capacity where we’re adding new airplanes, growth aircraft. We really aren’t. We expect to end 2015 with fewer aircraft at the end of the year than we started the year, but we’ll still have capacity growth because we have more seats on each of the aircraft,” Kirby said.

“All airlines for the most part are putting more seats on airplanes. We’re doing it. United’s doing it. Delta’s doing it. Even Southwest is continuing to put more seats on their existing aircraft. Once you’ve done that, you’re done.”

The capacity boost at American is largely coming in two fleets, the Boeing 737-800s that are now the mainstay of its single-aisle fleet and the Boeing 777-200s that anchor its international fleet.

American is putting another 10 seats on the 737-800s, taking that aircraft to 160 seats. As part of an overall redo of the 777-200 interiors, American is going from 247 seats to 289.

The arrival of more Boeing 737-800s and the phase-out of the 140-seat McDonnell Douglas MD-80 on domestic routes will also boost the average number of seats per flight, although American will fly some of the MD-80 routes with 128-seat Airbus A319s.

Delta is also adding aircraft that replace smaller airplanes, and five daily flights between Dallas Love Field and Atlanta illustrate the result.

A year ago, Delta used a regional partner to operate the flights with 50-seat jets, giving it 250 seats to sell each day in each direction. But with the Oct. 13 end of a federal law restricting Love Field flights, Delta began flying 110-seat Boeing 717s on the route, giving it 550 seats each direction — more than doubling the capacity without adding any flights.

Delta also has added the 180-seat Boeing 737-900, the largest single-aisle jet that Boeing sells. Delta now has 31 of the 737-900 and firm orders for 69 more. It also has firm orders for 45 Airbus A321s, the Airbus counterpart to the 737-900.

Southwest has used two methods to boost its capacity — putting more seats on airplanes and going to a larger airplane type.

At the end of 2011, Southwest’s fleet of 698 airplanes (including AirTran Airways Inc. aircraft) had an average of 134 seats.

Since then, Southwest has decided to begin buying 175-seat Boeing 737-800s and is adding an extra row of six seats to the 137-seat Boeing 737-700s.

Sending AirTran’s Boeing 717s to Delta also helped Southwest boost its capacity. Southwest has replaced those 117-seat airplanes with larger Boeing 737-700s.

As a result of the changes, the average aircraft size at Southwest went up to 146 seats as of Dec. 31, a 9 percent increase over 2011. The total number of seats is more than 97,000, compared with about 93,500 three years earlier, even though the airline had 665 aircraft operating at the end of 2014 compared with 698 in 2011.

At the investment conference, executives said they are concerned about too much capacity in international markets.

“If you look around the world, I would describe demand as pretty good everywhere except for the fact that capacity is growing faster than demand in some of the regions,” Kirby told attendees.

Capacity to Europe is up significantly, he said. American has reduced flying across the Atlantic, “but the rest of the industry hasn’t,” Kirby said.

Bastian said the stronger dollar will hurt Delta on foreign exchange weakness, and that is likely to cause it to cut international flying in September and October.

“Summer is looking strong. It should do quite well. But post-summer, in the September-October period, you can expect to see some reductions on the international front,” he said.

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One of the most common types of email fraud is called “phishing”. Phishing is the practice of sending phony email messages that are disguised as legitimate and often include company logos that look real. A typical phishing email will include a false claim about a customer’s account and either a link or button that takes them to a “spoof” website that mimics a reputable company’s actual website, in hopes that they will disclose personal information such as a credit card number or account information. Some phishing emails may also have attachments which may contain potential email viruses. Traditional phishing happens exclusively via the Internet with emails and attachments, but offline phishing involves sending direct faxes and/or postal mailings to consumers or businesses as well.

Examples of Phishing Emails, Faxes, Contracts and Postal Mailings

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What To Do If You Receive a Phishing Email, Fax, Contract or Postal Mailing

American Airlines will never ask you to perform security-related changes to your account in this fashion or send emails to collect user names, passwords, email addresses or other personal information. If you receive an email claiming to be from American Airlines, that asks for account information, it should be considered fraudulent and an attempt to obtain personal information that may be used to commit fraud.

If you receive this type of email, do not click on any links, open any attachments, call any phone numbers listed or follow any instructions in the email. Instead, forward a copy of the email, including the header to webmaster@aa.comso that we can investigate further.

If you receive a phishing fax or postal mailing, please scan the examples and forward via email to webmaster@aa.com.

You may also want to file a complaint with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

After airlines began charging fees for checked baggage in 2008[1], frugal travelers started cramming everything into their carry-on bags. While overhead compartments got a lot more crowded, this tactic worked well. But recently, travelers have seen stricter enforcement of airline carry on rules. Here are some packing tips to make sure your bag fits.

Are There New Airline Carry on Rules?

Travel writer George Hobica of Airfarewatchdog.com wrote in USA Today[2]that before a recent flight on American Airlines, airport staff insisted he place his suitcase in a bag sizer. Despite having “taken this same 21-inch four-wheeled suitcase all around the world,” he wrote, it was rejected as being too big. One side was one inch too long.

Other airlines responded by saying they had not changed their carry on size limits, but Hobica contends that they have. Before March 2014, he says, United’s carry on bag limit was 45 inches (height + width + depth), including wheels and handles, with no side being longer than 22 inches. The new language says carry on luggage can’t exceed 9 inches by 14 inches by 22 inches.[3] It might seem like a small difference, he says, but this can mean that some bags that previously met the requirements will now have to be checked at additional cost. Hobica says a Delta passenger told him that a bag identical in size to his was also rejected as a carry on for a recent flight.

The upshot is that while most airlines’ carry on limits remain the same, it seems that some are getting stricter about enforcement. Here are some packing tips to ensure your bags meet airline carry on rules.

Research Your Airline’s Specific Policies

Airlines each have their own policies about carry on bag size, fees and definitions. Here are some major airlines’ carry on rules and maximum dimensions, as of July 2014. Remember that wheels and handles are included in the dimensions.

• Alaska Airlines: 24″ by 17″ by 10″. Exceptions made for human organs, art portfolios, paintings, delicate scientific equipment and fishing poles.[4]
• American Airlines: 22″ by 14″ by 9″. 45” combined dimensions. Beginning in June 2014, one diaper bag or duty-free item may be brought on board as a second personal item.[5]
• Delta: 22″ x 14″ x 9″. 45″ combined dimensions.[6]
• Frontier Airlines: 24″ by 16″ by 10″. A fee is charged for carry-on bags, ranging from $25 to $50.[7]
• JetBlue: 24″ by 16″ by 10″ [8]
• Southwest: 24″ by 16″ by 10″[9]
• United: 22″ x 14″ x 9″[10]

Know Which Items You’re Allowed to Carry On Separately

If your bag is bulging at the seams, you can take out certain items and bring them on board in your hands to make sure you’re meeting airline carry-on rules. Airlines typically allow passengers to carry on books and magazines, coats and outerwear, food, umbrellas and walking aids.[11]

Maximize Your “Personal Item”

Most airlines permit travelers to bring one personal item in addition to their carry on bag. This can mean a purse, backpack, briefcase or computer bag, but not more than one of these. (Some airlines permit diaper bags to be carried as a second personal item.) While your personal item must fit under the airplane seat, many airlines do not have specific dimensions it must meet. So pack as much as you can in your personal item to reduce the size of your carry on bag.

Try a Carry On Bag That Compresses Your Clothes

Forget those flimsy elastic bands in your old suitcase. Briggs-Riley sells a line of compression luggage that expands by a third and then shrinks back to regulation carry-on size when you zip it up.

Pack Your Bag Thoughtfully

To maximize space in your carry on bag, tightly roll your clothes and place the larger items in the bag first. Tuck socks, underwear and other small items in the leftover space, including inside your shoes. Make sure all liquids and gels meet TSA size limits and are easily accessible for inspection.

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