American lets frequent fliers claim one-way trips

ATLANTA May 11 (Reuters) - American Airlines, hoping to boost travel demand, said on Monday it was now allowing members of its frequent-flier program to redeem one-way flights for half the miles of a round-trip award.

In the past, members of the AAdvantage program who only wanted to fly one-way had to use the full amount of miles that a round-trip would require.

The unit of AMR Corp AMR.N also said consumers can now combine different types of awards on a single itinerary. The airline said in a statement that the overhaul of its frequent flier program gives customers more options.

The U.S. airline industry has been hard hit by the economic recession that has hurt travel demand. Earlier this month, American Airlines said its system traffic fell 4.7 percent during the month of April.

A spokesman for UAL Corp's UAUA.O United Airlines said his company was studying American's frequent-flier plan changes.

AMR shares closed unchanged on Monday at $5.55 on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Karen Jacobs; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)