Northwest Chief Executive Doug Steenland said Northwest is aiming to match its capacity to customer demand as airfares increase.

"We don't anticipate doing anything in addition, but if fuel continues to be challenging we clearly have the wherewithal to take additional action," he told analysts at a conference on Tuesday.

Still, Steenland acknowledged that even the cuts announced Tuesday would not get Northwest to its profit goals. When one analyst asked why Northwest didn't cut enough to meet its profit goal, Steenland said cutting more flights would run the risk that another carrier would simply move in and take that business.

"You have to do it always with an eye on the competitive ball," he said.

Northwest Airlines Corp. said it expects to reduce mainline flying by as much as 9.5 percent compared with a year ago. Domestic flying, including regional carriers, is now slated to go down by 7 percent to 8 percent. The cuts are expected to take effect in the fourth quarter, which begins in October.

But it said regional flying would rise by as much as 55 percent as it adds new 76-seat jets. Chief Financial Officer Dave Davis said the smaller jets cost about 30 percent less to operate because of lower labor and fuel expenses, even after making the debt payments