By DAVID KOENIG
AP BUSINESS WRITER

FORT WORTH, Texas -- The U.S. Postal Service has stopped using American Airlines and US Airways to deliver domestic mail because the carriers failed to meet performance goals, including on-time delivery.

The post office said the suspension took effect Saturday and covers first-class mail and some small packages shipped priority class.

Airline and post office officials said they were talking and hoped to settle the dispute.

Jim Quirk, a Postal Service spokesman, said Tuesday the agency notified the airlines in December that "we needed a plan from them to meet the goals" for on-time delivery. He said the post office was optimistic that the two airlines could make corrections and soon be carrying mail again.

Fort Worth-based American, a unit of AMR Corp., said that its contract remained in force, but spokesman Tim Wagner added, "We are talking with them about aspects of our business relationship and ways to improve our performance."

Wagner said American didn't view the post office's action as a suspension of its contract but rather the agency exercising its right to control the amount of mail it sends on American's jets.

That amount "is down from what has been standard in the past," he said.

Post office stops use of American Airlines, continued