Its heavy obligations have stifled the quick modernization of the company's fleets with more fuel-efficient planes, to better compete with carriers like American, United and Delta.

Texas Air also helped Continental obtain the financing last year to acquire 100 quieter, more fuel-efficient planes.

He hoped that by building a fleet of fuel-efficient planes, Air Europe would be able to capture business from the high-cost European giant airlines that dominate the market.

At that time AMR's chief executive Gerard Arpey said the airline hoped to reduce costs with new labour agreements and more fuel-efficient planes.

Soaring oil prices helped both companies, he said, because they prodded airlines to switch to more fuel-efficient planes.

And he is planning to increase the airline's fleet of fuel-efficient smaller planes and phase out many 747's.

South African Airways are expected to update their fleet from 2014 with more fuel-efficient planes and have asked all pilots to hold on to their wage increases.

It is developing a fuel-efficient midsize plane, the 7E7 Dreamliner, to connect cities that do not generate the traffic to justify a 500-seat aircraft.

The three Japanese companies were to be partners in Boeing's aborted 7J7 propfan aircraft, a fuel-efficient 150-seat plane.

"We can't even satisfy the demand from the Middle East and Asia for single-aisle, narrow-bodied, fuel-efficient planes," Mr. Hubschman said.