Any day there’s news involving American Airlines, we’ve become used to it being mostly bad. But today there’s a bit of both, so, yay. The bad news: American Airlines is going to keep up with its 1% reduction in capacity into November, which means cutting about 35 flights per day. The good news: The airline says the cuts aren’t going to mess up holiday travel.

American Airlines sent out a memo to employees yesterday outlining the cuts and explaining that they’re because the on-time arrival rate hasn’t improved enough, reports BusinessWeek.

“We are not yet back to the levels our customers deserve and expect,” American says in the memo. Keeping up with the cutbacks it’s already instituted “will give us additional time to ensure the operation returns to a more normal pattern. This will not impact holiday travel.”

Flights were already sliced by 1% to 2% starting in mid-September while the on-time arrival rate fell to less than 50%. The airline has been plagued by what it claims are pilot sick-outs due to labor disputes. And then things got worse when three flights had seats come loose in mid-air, prompting an inspection of 48 of its Boeing 757s to determine the problem.

Basically it’s been bad news after bad news, but as long as we’re able to get to our holiday destinations safely and on-time, that could be the silver lining in this rain cloud of a situation. Heck, passengers are already reportedly turning violent due to delays, so we’re not sure how long American can keep up this pattern of delays and cutbacks before the you-know-what really hits the fan.

American Air Extends 1% Capacity Cut to Nov. 14 on Delays [BusinessWeek]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.