American Eagle Airlines Inc. (formerly Simmons Airlines), is a certificated air carrier based in Fort Worth, Texas.^[1] American Eagle the "marketing brand" however, is used by Chautauqua Airlines based out of Indianapolis, Indiana, ExpressJet Airlines based in Atlanta, Georgia, Executive Airlines based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and SkyWest Airlines based in Salt Lake City, Utah along with American Eagle Airlines, in the operation of passenger air services as the regional affiliates of American Airlines.^[2] American Eagle Airlines and the now defunct Executive Airlines are wholly owned subsidiaries of AMR Corp.

Operating over 1,800 flights a day, serving 159 cities across the USA, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean,^[2] American Eagle is considered to be the world's largest regional airline system.^[3]

The American Eagle brand is an affiliate member of the Oneworld airline alliance. Until April 11, 2012, Eagle had a code share agreement with Delta Air Lines on California routes.

The name was also used between April 1980 and April 1981 by an unrelated air charter service that suspended operations and filed bankruptcy before flying any scheduled operations.^[4]

History [edit]

American Eagle began as a collection of regional carriers with contracts to carry the American Eagle brand name. The first American Eagle flight was operated by Metroflight Airlines, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Metro Airlines (formerly Houston Metro Airlines), on November 1, 1984, from Fayetteville, Arkansas to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Metroflight utilized Convair 580 turboprop aircraft that had been formerly operated by Frontier Airlines. Other carriers that have flown in Eagle livery include Executive Airlines, Command Airways, Air Virginia, Simmons Airlines, Wings West Airlines and Chaparral Airlines. Among other aircraft in its fleet, Chaparral flew Grumman I-C turboprops which were stretched, 37 passenger regional airliner versions of Grumman's successful propjet business aircraft and was one of only a few air carriers to ever operate the type in scheduled passenger service.

Until 1987 these third-party carriers flew under contract with American Airlines to provide regional feed to its hubs. During 1987 and 1988 AMR Corp. acquired its regional carriers, starting with Simmons Airlines. By mid-1991 AMR had consolidated the number of carriers to four. The May 15, 1998, merger of Wings West and Flagship into Simmons (and the name change of Simmons Airlines to American Eagle Airlines) reduced the number of carriers flying as American Eagle under separate operating certificates to two: American Eagle Airlines, Inc. and Executive Airlines, Inc.

During 2007, AMR began studying ways to spin American Eagle Airlines off into a separate company, including, but not limited to, the possibilities of selling the company to either stockholders or to an unaffiliated third party. In 2008, AMR said any plans had been put on hold until the airline industry stabilized after the worldwide financial crisis. In July 2011, AMR announced the spin-off of American Eagle Airlines but those plans were again put on hold when Parent AMR Corp. filed for bankruptcy in November 2011.

• In January 1988, Nashville Eagle became AMR Corp.s first and only start-up airline, using equipment acquired from Air Midwest.^[11]
• American Eagle Airlines launched its regional jet service in May 1998 using Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft.
• Business Express was acquired by AMR Eagle Holdings Corporation in March 1999,^[13] although it never flew under the American Eagle brand before being fully integrated into American Eagle Airlines, Inc. in December 2000.

Codeshare Agreements with Airlines other than American Airlines [edit]

For a brief period American Eagle Airlines cooperated with Trans World Airlines by allowing the placement of the TW two letter IATA code upon American Eagle Airlines flights feeding into Los Angeles and later New York's JFK Airports. These services were known as the Trans World Connection.^[14][15]

These American Eagle Airlines/Trans World agreements were forged prior to and well in advance of AMR Corporation's route and asset acquisition of TWA in 2001.

Hubs [edit]

American Eagle Airlines operates from four hubs at Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas-Fort Worth, Miami, New York (at both Kennedy and LaGuardia airports). Former hubs include Boston, Nashville, San Jose, San Juan, Los Angeles, and Raleigh/Durham, with former focus cities being St. Louis and Washington.

American Eagle Airlines also operates maintenance stations in Abilene, Texas;^[16] Blytheville, Arkansas;^[17][18] Columbus, Ohio; Springfield-Branson National Airport in Springfield, Missouri and Sawyer International Airport in Marquette, Michigan.

Other Carriers as American Eagle [edit]

American Airlines has announced that, as part of its restructuring, will contract American Eagle flying to carriers other than American Eagle Airlines and Executive Airlines. SkyWest, Inc. announced that through its subsidiaries SkyWest Airlines and ExpressJet Airlines, it will operate some flights under the American Eagle name starting November 15, 2012.^[19] This development is part of AMR's bankruptcy reorganization. As a result, the company is closing its Los Angeles pilot and flight attendant bases. Affected employees will transfer to other bases, as no furloughs are anticipated at this time.

On January 24, 2013, Republic Airways Holdings will also operate some American Eagle flights under the Republic Airlines subsidiary after AMR Corp. and Republic Airways Holdings signed a 12-year purchase agreement. These flights are in addition to the flights already operated by Chautauqua Airlines, another RAH subsidiary. The flights are expected to begin operation beginning in mid-2013.^[20]

Flights operated as AmericanConnection by Chautauqua Airlines will be integrated into American Eagle after the discontinuation of the AmericanConnection brand.

Destinations [edit]

Fleet [edit]

American Eagle Airlines Fleet [edit]

The American Eagle Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of April 2013):

American Eagle Airlines also operated a wide variety of twin turboprops in the past including Convair 580, Saab 340B, ATR-42, Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner, British Aerospace (BAe) Jetstream 31 and 32 series, NAMCO YS-11, Shorts 360 and CASA 212 aircraft.

At October 2010, the average age of the American Eagle Airlines fleet was 9.7 years.^[24]

Combined American Eagle Fleet [edit]

The combined American Eagle fleet, including American Eagle Airlines, consists of the following aircraft (as of April 2013):^[25]

On-board service [edit]

On domestic flights in North America and areas in the Caribbean, American Eagle Airlines offers a buy on board program offering snacks for purchase.^[27]

Incidents and accidents [edit]

Executive Airlines [edit]

• On May 8, 1987, American Eagle Flight 5452 operated by regional airline Executive Airlines, a CASA 212-200, was on a domestically scheduled passenger flight between San Juan, Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, Puerto Rico crashed short of Runway 09 while landing at Mayaguez. After impacting, the plane continued through a chain link fence and a ditch. Of the 6 occupants onboard (4 passengers and 2 crew on board) 2 were killed. The cause of the crash was determined to be the improper maintenance in setting the flight idle propeller and engine fuel flow.
• On June 7, 1992, American Eagle Flight 5456 operated by regional airline Executive Airlines, was on a regular flight between San Juan, Puerto Rico and Mayaguez, Puerto Rico when it lost control and crashed nose-down about 3/4 mile from the Mayaguez, Puerto Rico airport. Both crew and all three passengers were killed. The aircraft involved was a CASA 212-200.^[28]
• On May 9, 2004, American Eagle Flight 5401, an ATR-72, crashed in San Juan, Puerto Rico after the captain lost control of the aircraft while landing. Seventeen people were injured, but there were no fatalities.^[29]

American Eagle Airlines, Inc. predecessors [edit]

• August 24, 1984, Wings West Airlines Flight 628 Midair collision. Shortly after departing the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport on a commuter flight to San Francisco International Airport, a Wings West twin-engine Beechcraft Model 99 (N6399U) collided head-on with a private Rockwell Commander 112TC aircraft (N112SM) that was descending for a landing at the same airport, killing all 17 on both aircraft. The NTSB attributed the crash to inadequate visual lookout on the part of both aircraft's pilots, and their failure to heed the recommended communications and traffic advisory practices for uncontrolled airports.^[30]
• February 19, 1988, AVAir Flight 3378, a Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner was on a regularly scheduled flight between Raleigh-Richmond when it crashed into a reservoir about a mile from Raleigh-Durham International Airport from where it had departed in the vicinity of Cary, North Carolina: The aircraft departed during low ceiling, low visibility, and night conditions. Analysis of radar data indicated the aircraft was in a 45 degree descending turn. Both crew members and all 10 passengers were killed.^[31]
• October 31, 1994, American Eagle Flight 4184 operated by AMR's regional airline Simmons Airlines (now American Eagle Airlines), an ATR 72; Near Roselawn, Indiana: The aircraft inverted, dived, and crashed from holding pattern at 10,000 feet (3050 m) "after a ridge of ice accreted beyond the deice boots" resulting in an unexpected aileron hinge moment reversal that subsequently resulted in the loss of control. The four crew and 64 passengers were all killed. In the months following the accident, American Eagle redeployed its ATR fleet to Miami and the Caribbean where icing is not an issue. The aircraft manufacturer, ATR, has since improved the anti-ice boots. The American Eagle aircraft have been modified with the updated deice system and have since been redeployed to the DFW market.
• December 13, 1994, American Eagle Flight 3379 operated by AMR's regional airline Flagship Airlines,^[32] a Jetstream 31 was on a regularly scheduled service of Raleigh-Greensboro-Raleigh when it crashed into a wooded area about 4 miles SW of the Raleigh-Durham International Airport in the vicinity of Morrisville, NC. Of the 20 onboard (18 passengers and 2 crewmembers) 15 were killed while the 5 survivors received serious injuries. The probable cause of the crash was the pilot not following proper procedure when it came to an engine failure situation.^[33]
• July 9, 1995, American Eagle Flight 4127, an ATR 72 operated by Simmons Airlines, experienced a loss of the rear cabin entry door during climb after taking off from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. The cabin door opened shortly after the first officer began to pressurize the cabin; therefore, only a slight pressure differential existed between the cabin pressure and the atmospheric pressure. Lack of damage indicates the door was unlocked/unlatched when it opened. The airplane was one of fifteen aircraft equipped with a new handrail and door handle design which was different than the majority of the ATR 72 fleet. The old handle was pulled down to latch/lock the door and pushed up to unlatch/unlock the door. The direction of motion was reversed so that the handle was pushed up to latch/lock the door and pulled down to unlatch/unlock the door.
  • A private citizen located the separated door in approximately 2 feet of water in the Des Plaines River on July 10, 1995.
  • Following this incident, ATR designed another new door handle design which returns the handle motion to push up to unlatch/unlock, and pull down to latch/lock.^[34]
• January 2006, American Eagle Flight 3008 from San Luis Obispo to Los Angeles, a Saab 340B+ encountered icing at 11,000 feet and regained control only at 6,500 feet, after some 50 seconds' descent. During the incident, in which no one was injured, the autopilot disconnected, the stall alarm/clacker sounded, the plane rolled sharply left and right, experienced vibration, pitched down, partly under manual control, manual deice boots were activated and ice could be heard shedding off and striking the fuselage.^[35][36]
  • The NTSB report on the Flight 3008 incident referenced three other Saab 340 icing incidents, as well as the Flight 4184 incident referenced above. The three were Nov. 11, 1998, in Eildon Weir, Victoria, Australia; June 28, 2002, in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia; and June 18, 2004, in Albury, New South Wales, Australia.^[37][38]

See also [edit]

• AAdvantage
• AmericanConnection

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• American Eagle Latitudes
• American Eagle page at American Airlines website