American Airlines was listed at No.120 on the Fortune 500 list of companies in 2010 and is a founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance.
Contents
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* 1 Overview
* 2 History
o 2.1 Formation
o 2.2 American Airlines before World War II
o 2.3 Postwar developments
o 2.4 Expansion in the 1980s and 1990s
o 2.5 TWA merger and 9/11 to the present
+ 2.5.1 MD-80 maintenance controversies
+ 2.5.2 Potential negotiations with Japan Airlines
o 2.6 Recent developments
+ 2.6.1 Antitrust immunity
+ 2.6.2 Expanded New York City service
+ 2.6.3 Expanded Los Angeles service
+ 2.6.4 New routes
o 2.7 Dispute with Expedia and Orbitz
* 3 Company affairs and image
o 3.1 Headquarters
o 3.2 Personnel
o 3.3 Communication
o 3.4 Environmental record
o 3.5 Marketing
+ 3.5.1 Livery
+ 3.5.2 Slogans
o 3.6 American Airlines Vacations
o 3.7 Airline acquisitions prior to the AMR Corporation founding
* 4 Destinations
o 4.1 Codeshare agreements
* 5 Fleet
o 5.1 Current
o 5.2 Historical fleet
* 6 On-board service
* 7 AAdvantage
* 8 Admirals Club
o 8.1 Flagship Lounge
* 9 Accidents and incidents
* 10 See also
* 11 References
* 12 Further reading
* 13 External links
[edit] Overview
In May 2008, American served 260 cities (excluding codeshares with partner airlines) with 655 aircraft.[7] 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 transcontinental and domestic markets.
American has five hubs: Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), Chicago (ORD), Miami (MIA), New York (JFK), and Los Angeles (LAX).[8] Dallas/Fort Worth is the airline's largest hub, with AA operating 85 percent of flights at the airport and traveling to more destinations than from its other hubs. New York-LaGuardia serves as a focus city. American currently operates maintenance bases at Tulsa (TUL) and Fort Worth Alliance (AFW). American closed its maintenance base at Kansas City (MCI) on September 24, 2010.[9]
American Airlines has three regional carriers, of which two are owned by American's parent, AMR Corporation and one is owned by a third party.
* American Eagle Airlines operates as "American Eagle" with hubs in Chicago O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, New York LaGuardia, Los Angeles, Miami and San Juan. The airline provides regional feed for American throughout North America, flying regional jets from American's hubs. American Eagle is wholly owned by AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines.[10] It plans to end ties with American Airlines and to become an independent airline.[11]
* Executive Airlines operates as "American Eagle" with hubs in Miami and San Juan. Executive flies Super ATR turboprops throughout the Caribbean. Executive Airlines is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Eagle and, by extension, AMR.
* Chautauqua Airlines operates as "AmericanConnection", feeding American's flights from its Chicago O'Hare Hub (transferred from St Louis April 6, 2010). Chautauqua is owned by Republic Airways Holdings, a separate company with no affiliation to AMR.[12]
[edit] History
[edit] Formation
A 1927 FC-2W The oldest flying American airlines aircraft.
, A Stinson Trimotor first operated by Centry Airlines
American Airways was developed from a conglomeration of 82 small airlines through acquisitions and reorganizations: initially, American Airways was a common brand by a number of independent 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), Thompson Aeronautical Services (which operated a Detroit-Cleveland route beginning 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 from Dallas to Los Angeles. The airline operated wood and fabric-covered Fokker Trimotors and all-metal Ford Trimotors. In 1934 American began flying Curtiss Condor biplanes with sleeping berths.
[edit] American Airlines before World War II
DC-3 "Flagship", American's chief aircraft type during the World War II period.
In 1934, American Airways Company was acquired by E.L. Cord, who renamed it "American Air Lines". Cord hired Texas businessman C.R. (Cyrus Rowlett) Smith to run the company.
Smith worked with Donald Douglas to develop the DC-3, which American Airlines started flying in 1936. With the DC-3, American began calling its aircraft "Flagships" and establishing the Admirals Club for valued passengers. The DC-3s had a four-star "admiral's pennant" 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 first to cooperate with Fiorello LaGuardia to build an airport in New York City, and partly as a result became 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 club, creating the model for other airline lounges.
[edit] Postwar developments
Boeing 707 freighter at EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg in France (near Basel) in 1976
After World War II, American acquired American Export Airlines, renaming it as American Overseas Airlines, to serve Europe; AOA was sold to Pan Am in 1950. AA launched another subsidiary, Líneas Aéreas Americanas de Mexico S.A., to fly to Mexico and built several airports there. American Airlines provided advertising and free usage of its aircraft in the 1951 film Three Guys Named Mike.[13] Until Capital merged into United in 1961 AA was the largest American airline, which meant second largest in the world, after Aeroflot.
American Airlines introduced transcontinental jet service with Boeing 707s on January 25, 1959. With its 707s American shifted to nonstop coast-to-coast flights, although it maintained feeder connections to 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) with IBM, and built an upgraded terminal at Idlewild (now JFK) Airport in New York City which became the airline's largest base.[14] In the 1960s, Mattel released a series of American Airlines stewardess Barbie dolls, signifying their growing commercial success.[citation needed] Vignelli Associates designed the AA eagle logo in 1967. Vignelli attributes the introduction of his firm to American Airlines to Henry Dreyfuss, the legendary AA design consultant. The logo is still in use today.
By September 1970, American Airlines was offering its first long haul international flights from St. Louis, Chicago, and New York to Honolulu and on to Sydney and Auckland via American Samoa and Nadi.[15]
A fictitious "American Airlines Space Freighter", the Valley Forge, was the setting for the 1971 science fiction movie Silent Running, starring Bruce Dern and directed by Douglas Trumbull. The freighter featured the then-new "AA" logo on the hull, along with the crew uniforms and several set pieces.
On March 30, 1973 AA became the first major airline to employ a female pilot when Bonnie Tiburzi was hired to fly Boeing 727s. American Airlines has been innovative in other aspects initiating several of the industry's major competitive developments including computer reservations systems, frequent flyer loyalty programs and two-tier wage scales
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