Where in the world have you flown?
How long have you been in the air?
Create your own FlightMemory and see!

American Airlines (USA)

American Airlines
IATA
AA		 ICAO
AAL		 Callsign
AMERICAN
Founded 1930 (as American Airways)
Hubs
Secondary hubs
Frequent flyer program AAdvantage
Member lounge Admirals Club
Alliance Oneworld
Fleet size 655[1]
Destinations 158
Parent company AMR Corporation
Company slogan We know why you fly. We're American Airlines.
Headquarters Fort Worth, Texas
Key people Gerard Arpey (CEO)
Tom Horton (CFO)
Website: http://www.aa.com/

American Airlines, Inc. (AA) is a US-based airline[2] and the world's largest airline in total passengers-miles transported[3], passenger fleet size, and the second largest airline in terms of aircraft operated (FedEx Express, a cargo airline has more aircraft) and the second-largest airline company in the world (behind Air France-KLM) in terms of total operating revenues[4]. A wholly owned subsidiary of the AMR Corporation, the airline is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, adjacent to the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. American operates scheduled flights throughout the United States, as well as flights to Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Western Europe, Japan, China, and India. The Chairman, President, and CEO of AA is Gerard Arpey. In 2005, the airline flew more than 138 billion revenue passenger miles (RPM).

Contents

Overview

As of February 2007, American serves 260 cities (excluding codeshares with partner airlines) with a fleet of 675 aircraft.[5] American carries more passengers between the US and Latin America (12.1 million in 2004) than any other airline, and is also strong in the trans/inter/intra/continental market.

American has five hubs: Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), Chicago (ORD), Miami (MIA), San Juan (SJU) and St. Louis (STL). Dallas/Fort Worth is the airline's largest hub, with AA operating over 84 percent of flights at the airport and traveling to more destinations than from any of its other hubs. Los Angeles (LAX), New York City-Kennedy (JFK), New York City-LaGuardia (LGA), Boston (BOS), and Raleigh-Durham (RDU) serve as focus cities and international gateways. American operates maintenance bases at Tulsa (TUL), Kansas City (MCI), and Fort Worth Alliance (AFW).

American Eagle Airlines is a Fort Worth, Texas-based regional airline partner of American Airlines, wholly owned by AMR Corporation.

American Airlines is a founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance.

History

Formation

American Airlines was developed from a conglomeration of about 82 small airlines through a series of corporate acquisitions and reorganizations: initially, the name American Airways was used as a common brand by a number of independent air carriers. These included Southern Air Transport in Texas, Southern Air Fast Express (SAFE) in the western US, Universal Aviation in the Midwest (which operated a transcontinental air/rail route in 1929), and Colonial Air Transport in the Northeast.

On January 25, 1930, American Airways was incorporated as a single company, based in New York, with routes from Boston, New York and Chicago to Dallas, and a route from Dallas to Los Angeles. The airline operated its routes with wood and fabric covered Fokker Trimotors and all metal Ford Trimotors. In 1934 American began flying Curtiss Condor biplanes fitted with sleeping berths.

American Airlines before World War II

In 1934, American Airways Company was acquired by E.L. Cord, who renamed the company "American Air Lines". Cord hired Texas businessman C.R. (Cyrus Rowlett) Smith to run the company.

Smith worked closely with Donald Douglas to develop the DC-3, which American Airlines started flying in 1936. With the DC-3, American began to brand itself using nautical terms, calling its aircraft "Flagships" and establishing the "Admirals Club", an honorary club for valued passengers. The DC-3s had a four-star "admiral's pennant" which would fly outside the cockpit window while the aircraft was parked, one of the most well-known images of the airline at the time.

American Airlines was the first airline to cooperate with Fiorello LaGuardia's plans to build an airport in New York City, and partly as a result became the owner of the world's first airline lounge at the new LaGuardia Airport (LGA), which became known as the "Admirals Club." Membership was initially by invitation only, but a discrimination suit decades later changed the club into a paid membership club, creating the model for other airline lounges.

Postwar developments

After World War II, American launched an international subsidiary, American Overseas Airlines to serve Europe; however, AOA was sold to rival Pan Am in 1950. AA launched another subsidiary around the same time, Líneas Aéreas Americanas de Mexico S.A., to operate flights to Mexico, and built several airports there.

American Airlines was an early adopter of jet aircraft, and introduced the first transcontinental jet service using Boeing 707s on 25 January 1959. With the introduction of its "Astrojets", as it dubbed the new jet fleet, American's focus shifted to nonstop coast-to-coast flights, although it maintained feeder connections to other cities along its old route using smaller Convair 990s and Lockheed Electras. American invested $440 million in jet aircraft up to 1962, launched the first electronic booking system (Sabre) together with IBM, and built an upgraded terminal at Idlewild (now JFK) Airport in New York City which became the airline's largest base of operations.[6]

Expansion in 1980s and 1990s

After moving its headquarters to Dallas in 1979, American changed its routing to a hub-and-spoke system starting in 1981, opening its first hubs at DFW and Chicago O'Hare. American began flights to Europe and Japan from these hubs in the mid-1980s.

In the late 1980s, American opened three new hubs for north-south traffic. San Jose International Airport was added as a hub after American purchased AirCal. American also built a new terminal and runway at Raleigh-Durham International Airport to take advantage of the rapidly-growing Research Triangle Park nearby, as well as compete with USAir's hub in Charlotte. Nashville was also chosen as a hub.

In 1990, American Airlines bought the assets of TWA's operations at London Heathrow airport for $445 million, giving American a hub there. Due to a US/British treaty Bermuda II adopted decades earlier, American is one of two U.S. airlines to serve Heathrow. Pan American was the other, but sold its operation at Heathrow to United Airlines in 1991.

Lower fuel prices in the era and a favorable business climate at the time led to higher than average airline industry profits. The industry's expansion was not lost on the American Airlines pilots who on February 17, 1997 struck for higher wages. President Bill Clinton invoked the Railway Labor Act citing economic impact to the United States a few minutes later quashing the strike.[7] Pilots settled for substantially lower wage increases than their demands as a result.

The three new hubs were all abandoned in the 1990s: some San Jose facilities were sold to Reno Air, and likewise at Raleigh/Durham to Midway Airlines. Midway went out of business in 2001. American purchased Reno Air in February 1999 and fully integrated its operations on 31 August 1999, but did not resume hub operations in San Jose. American discontinued most of Reno Air's routes, and sold most of the Reno Air aircraft, much as they had done with Air California 12 years earlier. The only remaining route from the Air California and Reno Air purchases is San Francisco to Los Angeles.

Miami also became a hub after American bought Central and South American routes from Eastern Air Lines in 1990 (inherited from Braniff International Airways but originated by Panagra). Through the 1990s, American expanded its route network in Latin America to become the dominant U.S. carrier in the region.

On 15 October 1998 American Airlines became the first airline to offer electronic ticketing in all 44 countries it serves.

TWA merger, 9/11, and aftermath

Mr. Crandall left the company in 1998 and was replaced by Donald J. Carty, who negotiated the purchase of Trans World Airlines and its hub in St. Louis in April 2001.

The merger of seniority lists remains a contentious issue, particularly for pilots - the groups were represented by different unions at their respective airlines. In the final merger, 60 percent of former TWA pilots were moved to the bottom of the seniority list at AA. All of these pilots were subsequently furloughed, and most remain on furlough. The most senior TWA captain, hired in 1963, was integrated at the same seniority level as an AA captain hired in 1985.[citation needed] All TWA captains and first officers hired in March 1989 and later were appended to the seniority list junior to American Airlines first officers hired in June of 2001. However, the TWA pilots were given "super-seniority" and a specified ratio of positions as captain if they stayed in St. Louis. The result was that most former TWA pilots stayed in St. Louis and roughly maintained their same relative seniority; though, some left St. Louis and fly in the co-pilot seat next to AA pilots who may have been hired at a later date, but are more senior outside the protections afforded to that base. The extensive furloughs of former TWA pilots that occured in the wake of the 9/11 attacks disproportionately affected the St. Louis base, and resulted in a significant influx of American Airlines pilots. For cabin crews, all former TWA flight attendants (approximately 4,200 employees) were furloughed by mid-2003 due to the AA flight attendants' union putting TWA flight attendants at the bottom of their seniority list.

In the wake of the TWA merger and the roughly concurrent September 11, 2001 attacks, American Airlines began losing money. Mr. Carty negotiated new wage and benefit agreements with the airline's labor unions, but was forced to resign after union leaders discovered that Carty was planning to award handsome executive compensation packages at the same time. St. Louis' hub was also downsized afterwards.

In Mr. Carty's wake, American has undergone additional cost-cutting measures, including rolling back its "More Room Throughout Coach" program (which eliminated several seats on certain aircraft types), ending three-class service on many international flights, and standardizing its fleet at each hub (see below). However, the airline has rebounded and expanded its service into new markets, including Ireland, India and mainland China.

On July 20, 2005, for the first time in 17 quarters, American announced a quarterly profit; the airline earned $58 million in the second quarter of 2005. It had previously lobbied for the preservation of the Wright Amendment, which regulates commercial airline operations at Love Field in Dallas. On June 15, 2006, American reached an agreement with Southwest Airlines and the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth to seek repeal of the Wright Amendment on the conditions that Love Field remain a domestic airport and that its gate capacity be limited.[8]

American Airlines cancelled over 1000 flights to inspect wire bundles in April 2008, and to make sure they were up to date with government safety regulations.[9] This caused many problems for the airline. As of April 14, all of American's more than 300 MD-80's have passed inspection and flights are back on schedule. American is also in a move to replace all its MD-80's with Boeing 737's.

Slogans

Destinations

Further information: American Airlines destinations

American Airlines serves destinations on four continents. Its network is particularly developed in the Americas, where it serves more destinations than any other U.S. airline. Hubs at Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami and New York (JFK) serve as major gateways to the Americas, while American's Chicago hub has become the airline's primary gateway to Europe and Asia. Similar to other U.S. legacy carriers, American has dramatically cut back on flying point-to-point routes (both domestic and international) to once-important non-hub cities such as Boston, San Jose, and Fort Lauderdale in favor of consolidating operations into major hubs.[citation needed] American is the only U.S. airline with scheduled flights to Anguilla, Bolivia, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Uruguay.

In recent years, American has begun to expand its network in Asia, albeit with mixed success. In 2005, American re-introduced a non-stop flight from Dallas/Fort Worth to Osaka, which had been discontinued after the September 11 terrorist attacks, but this service was discontinued a year later. American also launched non-stop service from Chicago to Nagoya, but that too ended within a year. Also in 2005, American launched service from Chicago to Delhi.[10] Somewhat surprising to some (given the lack of success that United Airlines encountered operating the same route) this service has been profitable.[citation needed] In April 2006, American began service from Chicago to Shanghai, which has also proven to be profitable for the company. However, in October 2006, American ceased its San Jose, CA to Tokyo/Narita service, leaving LAX as American's sole international gateway on the West Coast. American planned to start flights between Dallas/Fort Worth and Beijing via Chicago-O'Hare (on Westbound only) in 2007 but lost its bid to United Airlines' Dulles to Beijing route. However, in September 2007, AA was granted permission to start a Chicago-Beijing route to be included in a new set of China routes in 2009.

New routes

Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)

Chicago (ORD)

Fort Lauderdale (FLL)

Miami (MIA)

Discontinued Routes

Fleet

Main article: American Airlines fleet

Current

American Airlines has an average fleet age of 15.0 years as of April 2008.[13]

American Airlines Fleet
Aircraft Total Passengers
(First/Business/Economy)		 Routes Notes
Airbus A300B4-600R 34 267 (16/251) Domestic/Latin American short-medium haul
Most fly out of JFK, MIA, SJU, and MCO		 Exit from service: 2012
Leases expiring
Boeing 737-800 77
(29 orders)
(29 options)		 142 (16/126)
148 (16/132)		 North American short-medium haul
Most fly out of MIA, DFW, and LAX
Boeing 757-200 125 188 (22/166) Short-medium-long haul
Most fly out of hub/focus cities		 To be fitted with winglets
To be fitted with new interiors
Boeing 767-200ER 16 165 (9/30/126)
167 (9/30/128)		 JFK-Bermuda
Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco		 To be fitted with winglets[citation needed]
To be fitted with new interiors
Aircell internet access available*
Boeing 767-300ER 58 219 (30/189)
223 (30/193)
225 (30/195)		 Domestic/International medium-long haul To be fitted with winglets[14]
Fitted with New Business Class
Boeing 777-200ER 47
(7 orders)		 245 (16/35/194)
247 (18/35/194)		 Domestic
Chicago-DFW, DFW-Miami,
Miami-Los Angeles

International
Beijing (begins March 25, 2009), Buenos Aires, Paris, London, Frankfurt,
Delhi, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai,
Săo Paulo, Tokyo

 Fitted with Flagship Suites
Currently being fitted with New Business Class
Currently being refitted with AVOD in all classes
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 243 136 (16/120)
140 (16/124)		 North American short-medium haul
Most fly out of ORD, DFW, STL, JFK		 To be replaced 2009-onwards with
Boeing 737-800
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 93 136 (16/120)
140 (16/124)		 North American short-medium haul
Most fly out of ORD, DFW, STL, JFK		 To be replaced 2009-onwards with
Boeing 737-800

*Aircell Internet Broadband Access is in the process of being installed on all Boeing 767-200 aircraft.[15]

AAdvantage

 This section does not cite any references or sources. (December 2007)
Please improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

AAdvantage is the frequent flyer program of American Airlines. Launched May 1, 1981, it was the first such loyalty program in the world, and remains the largest with more than 50 million members as of 2005.

Miles accumulated in the program allow members to redeem tickets, upgrade service class, or obtain free or discounted car rentals, hotel stays, merchandise, or other products and services through partners. The most active members, based on the amount and price of travel booked, are designated AAdvantage Gold, AAdvantage Platinum, and AAdvantage Executive Platinum elite members, with privileges such as separate check-in, priority upgrade and standby processing, or free upgrades. They also receive similar privileges from AA's partner airlines, particularly those in Oneworld.

History

Increased competition following the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act prompted airline marketing professionals to develop ways to reward repeat customers and build brand loyalty. The first idea at American, a special "loyalty fare", was modified and expanded to offer free first class tickets and upgrades to first class for companions, or discounted coach tickets. Membership was seeded by searching AA's SABRE computer reservations system for recurring phone numbers. The 130,000 most frequent flyers, plus an additional 60,000 members of AA's Admirals Club were pre-enrolled and sent letters with their new account numbers. The name was selected by AA's advertising agency, and is consistent with other American Airlines programs featuring "AA" in the name and logo.

Less than a week later, rival United Airlines launched its Mileage Plus program; other airlines followed in the ensuing months and years. The rapid appearance of competition changed the nature of the program, and as airlines began to compete on the features of their frequent flyer programs, AAdvantage liberalized its rules, established partnerships with hotel and rental car agencies, and offered promotions such as extra free beverages. In 1982 AAdvantage also became the first program to cooperate with an international carrier; members could accrue and redeem miles on British Airways flights to Europe.

In 2005 American Airlines joined other major US carriers in introducing an online shopping portal allowing shoppers to earn AAdvantage miles when shopping online.

Partnerships

In addition to its Oneworld, American Connection, and American Eagle partnerships, American Airlines offers frequent flier partnerships with the following airlines:

Admirals Club

The Admirals Club was conceived by AA president C.R. Smith as a marketing gimmick shortly after he was made an honorary Texas Ranger. Inspired by the Kentucky colonels and other honorary organizations, Smith decided to make particularly valued passengers "admirals" of the "Flagship fleet" (AA called its aircraft "Flagships" at the time). The list of Admirals included many celebrities, politicians and other VIPs, as well as more "ordinary" customers who had been particularly loyal to the airline.

There was no physical Admirals Club until shortly after the opening of LaGuardia Airport. During the airport's construction, New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia had an upper-level lounge set aside for press conferences and business meetings. At one such press conference, he noted that the entire terminal was being offered for lease to airline tenants; after a reporter asked whether the lounge would be leased as well, LaGuardia replied that it would, and a vice president of AA immediately offered to lease the premises. The airline then procured a liquor license and began operating the lounge as the "Admirals Club" in 1939.

The second Admirals Club opened at Washington National Airport. Because it was illegal to sell alcohol in Virginia at the time, the Club contained refrigerators for the use of its members, so they could store their own liquor at the airport.

For many years, membership in the Admirals Club (and most other airline lounges) was by the airline's invitation. After a passenger sued for discrimination[citation needed], the Club (and most other airline lounges) switched to a paid membership program. Membership now costs $250 to $450 a year, depending on previous member status and AAdvantage frequent flyer program level; membership can also be purchased with AAdvantage miles.

Locations

[16]

Codeshare agreements

American has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

AmericanConnection, which feeds American's hub at Lambert Saint Louis International Airport, is also a codesharing operation with three regional carriers. It also has reciprocal agreements for earning frequent flyer miles with several airlines, including all other members of the Oneworld alliance. American Airlines is now also going to have codeshare agreement with Jet Airways from January 2008.

Livery

American's early liveries varied widely, but a common livery was adopted in the 1930s, featuring an eagle painted on the fuselage. The eagle became a symbol of the company and inspired the name of American Eagle Airlines. Propeller aircraft featured an international orange lightning bolt running down the length of the fuselage, which was replaced by a simpler orange stripe with the introduction of jets.

In the late 1960s, American commissioned an industrial designer to develop a new livery. The original design called for a red, white, and blue stripe on the fuselage, and a simple "AA" logo, without an eagle, on the tail. However, American's employees revolted when the livery was made public, and launched a "Save the Eagle" campaign similar to the "Save the Flying Red Horse" campaign at Mobil. Eventually, the designer caved in and created a highly stylized eagle, which remains the company's logo to this day. In 1999, American painted a new Boeing 757 in its 1959 international orange livery.

American is the only major U.S. airline that leaves the majority of its aircraft surfaces unpainted. This was because C. R. Smith hated painted aircraft, and refused to use any liveries that involved painting the entire plane. Robert "Bob" Crandall later justified the distinctive natural metal finish by noting that less paint reduced the aircraft's weight, thus saving on fuel costs. Eastern Air Lines and US Airways have also maintained unpainted airplanes in the past.

Miscellanea

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

Sources

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.aa.com/content/amrcorp/corporateInformation/facts/fleet.jhtml
  2. ^ Federal Aviation Administration - Airline Certificate Information - Detail View
  3. ^ Aviation Week and Space Technology, January 15, 2007, p. 349
  4. ^ American airlines information pictures and facts
  5. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named fleetstats
  6. ^ Jets Across the U.S., TIME, November 17, 1958.
  7. ^ http://www.iht.com/articles/1997/02/17/fly.t_1.php.
  8. ^ American Airlines Joins Southwest Airlines in Defeating the Wright Amendment (Today In The Sky: November 2, 2006)
  9. ^ American cancels more than 1,000 flights
  10. ^ American Airlines Introduces Non-Stop Service To Delhi
  11. ^ American Airliens Adds Miami-Grenada Service to Schedule, SunHerald, April 23, 2008.
  12. ^ American Airliens Adds Miami-Grenada Service to Schedule, The Earth Times, April 23, 2008.
  13. ^ http://www.airfleets.net/ageflotte/American%20Airlines.htm
  14. ^ American Airlines And Aviation Partners Boeing Team Up To Certify And Install 767-300ER Blended Winglets
  15. ^ American Airline's First Installation of Aircell
  16. ^ "Admirals Club Locations & Pass Information." American Airlines.
  17. ^ Jet Airways to partner American Airlines : India Business
  18. ^ American Airlines to lay off 3,100, CNN.com 2003-05-15

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
American Airlines


v  e
Members of Oneworld
v  d  e
Members of the Air Transport Association
v  d  e
Airlines of the United States
Airline Carriers
Regional airline
brands
Regionals
Commuter
Cargo
Charter
Defunct airlines of the United States
This article based on this article: American_Airlinesexternal Link from the free encyclopedia Wikipediaexternal Link and work with the GNU Free Documentation License. In Wikipedia is this list of the authorsexternal Link.