American Airlines parent company AMR Corp. said Wednesday it would cut 13,000 jobs and close its Fort Worth Alliance Airport maintenance hub as part of a five-year plan to save $3 billion per year.

NBC 5's Scott Friedman was the first to break the story early Wednesday morning that the Fort Worth-based airline would cut as many as 15,000 jobs nationwide.

Thomas Horton, Chairman and CEO, released a letter to employees Wednesday that highlighted the major changes designed to help the carrier emerge from bankruptcy a stronger airline.

Chief among those changes are staff reductions that are expected to save the company $1.25 billion annually and revenue enhancements worth another billion dollars. The remaining savings will come from altering route structures, capacity and replacing an aging fleet. The airline also hopes to boost revenue by increasing departures out of hubs in Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles and New York by 20 percent over the next five years.