American Airlines is planning to drop flights to up to 30 smaller U.S. cities if a federal requirement to continue those flights expires at the end of next month, an airline executive familiar with the matter said Thursday. American agreed to keep serving those smaller cities as a condition of receiving $5.8 billion in federal payroll help this spring. However, the money and the requirement to serve those destinations both expire Sept. 30 unless they are extended. The move by American could put more pressure on Congress and the White House to give passenger airlines another $25 billion for labor costs. Airline unions and the airlines, which are struggling with a steep downturn in revenue as the pandemic undercuts air travel, are lobbying Congress for the money. American is telling the federal government that if relief money is extended, it won’t drop cities, but if the […]