American Airlines
 |
American Airlines and American Eagle aircraft at San Juan |
American Airlines is the
largest airline in the world in terms of total passengers transported and fleet size, and the second-largest
airline in the world (behind
Air France-KLM) in terms of total operating revenues. A 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,
mainland China, and
India. The
chairman and
CEO of AA is
Gerard Arpey. In 2005, the airline netted over 98 million
RPMs.
As of February 2006, American serves 171 cities with a fleet of 707 aircraft. 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 market.
American has six hubs:
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW),
Chicago O'Hare (ORD),
Miami (MIA),
St. Louis (STL), and
San Juan (SJU).
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 International Airport (LAX) and
New York City (JFK) serve as a focus cities and international gateways. American operates maintenance bases at
Tulsa (TUL),
Kansas City (MCI), and
Fort Worth Alliance (AFW).
American Eagle Airlines is an airline based in Fort Worth, Texas. It is a regional airline partner of American Airlines, which are both wholly owned by
AMR Corporation.
American is a founding member of the
oneworld airline alliance.
Formation
American Airlines 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, with routes from
Boston,
New York and
Chicago, Illinois to
Dallas, and a transcontinental route from Dallas to
Los Angeles. The airline operated its routes with all-metal
Fokker Trimotors and
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, in financial straits, was acquired by
E.L. Cord, who renamed the company "American Airlines". Cord hired Texas businessman
C.R. (Cyrus Rowlett) Smith to run the company. Early in its history, the company was headquartered at
Midway Airport in
Chicago, Illinois.
 |
American played a major role in the development of the Douglas DC-3, dubbed "Flagship" in the American fleet |
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 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.
|
American Overseas Boeing 377 Stratocruiser |
AA launched another subsidiary around the same time, American Airlines de Mexico S.A., to operate flights to
Mexico, and built several airports in American Airlines introduced the first transcontinental jet service on
25 January 1959. With the introduction of
707 "Astrojet" service in the 1960s, 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. The company also launched the first electronic booking system, named
Sabre, together with
IBM.
Expansion in 1980s and 1990s
 |
In the 1990s, American switched to an all-twinjet fleet. Boeing 767 aircraft replaced older DC-10s on many transatlantic routes |
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
Air California. 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.
Lower fuel prices in the era and a favorable management climate at the time led to higher than average airline industry profits that were not necessarily shared by non-stockholding employees. The industry's expansion was not lost on the American Airline's existing employees who on
February 17,
1997 struck for higher wages. President
Bill Clinton invoked the Taft-Hartley Amendment to the
Wagner Act citing economic impact to the United States a few minutes later quashing the strike.[
1] Pilots settled for substantially lower wage increases than their demands as a result.
The three new hubs were all abandoned in the 1990s: San Jose was sold to
Reno Air, and RDU 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.
Miami also became a hub after American bought Central and South American routes from
Eastern Air Lines in 1990. 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
 |
The Boeing 777-200ER replaced the MD-11 as American's primary long-haul aircraft type. |
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 was a contentious issue, particularly for pilots, who were represented by different unions at the two airlines. In the final merger, 60 percent of all former TWA pilots were moved to the bottom of the seniority list at AA: the most senior TWA captain, hired in 1963, was integrated at the same seniority level as an AA captain hired in 1985. 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. A few left St. Louis and flew in the co-pilot seat next to AA pilots with significantly less seniority. In addition, all former TWA flight attendants (approximately 4,200 employees) were furloughed by mid-2003 due to the flight attendants' union putting former 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 (which claimed two of AA's aircraft), American began losing money. 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 Carty's wake, American has undergone additional cost-cutting measures, including rolling back its "More Room in 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 Q2 2005. American is reliant upon its dominant position at Dallas/Fort Worth for its continuing financial solvency. It had previously lobbied for the preservation of the
Wright Amendment, which regulates
Southwest Airlines' 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.
American has
codesharing agreements with
Aer Lingus,
Air Pacific,
Air Sahara,
Alaska Airlines,
British Airways,
Cathay Pacific Airways,
China Eastern Airlines,
Deutsche Bahn (
AiRail Service),
EVA Air,
Finnair,
Grupo TACA (to be discontinued soon),
Gulf Air,
Hawaiian Airlines,
Iberia,
Japan Airlines,
LAN Airlines,
Mexicana,
Qantas Airways,
SN Brussels Airlines,
SNCF,
Swiss International Air Lines (to be discontinued soon),
TAM Airlines and
Turkish Airlines.
AmericanConnection, which feeds American's hub at
Lambert Saint Louis International Airport, is also a codesharing operation with three regional carriers.
Although members of, for example,
British Airways's Executive Club can earn AAdvantage miles for flights with American Airlines within the US, they cannot earn miles for transatlantic flights; the same applies in reverse to AAdvantage members who will not earn miles for US-UK flights with BA.
American Airlines serves destinations on four continents. Its network is particularly developed in
Latin America, where it serves more destinations than any other U.S. airline. It is the only U.S. airline with scheduled flights to
Haiti and
Bolivia.
In recent years, American has begun to expand its network in
Asia. In 2005, American re-introduced a non-stop flight from Dallas/Fort Worthto
Osaka, which had been discontinued after the September 11 terrorist attacks, and began service from Chicago to
Delhi. [
2] In April 2006, American began service from Chicago to
Shanghai.
American has recently applied to fly between Dallas/Fort Worth to
Beijing Capital International Airport in
Beijing, China. The route is currently pending government approval.
American's domestic strategy is centered around its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth. In addition to its DFW hub, American also operates services at
Love Field in competition with
Southwest Airlines. American offers mainline flights from Love to
St. Louis and
Kansas City, as well as commuter flights to
Austin and
San Antonio.
* it will upgrade its
Miami-
Buenos Aires routes to all
Boeing 777 operations on September 2006 . It operates 2 evening departures from Miami, the first one with a Boeing 767-300, the second one with a Boeing 777-200.
New York JFK-
Buenos Aires route will get a Boeing 777 upgrade for the winter season from October 2006 through April 2007 while the Boeing 767-300 will continue to operate the current summer schedule and resume for the summer 2007 schedule.
*
Flight 320, a
Lockheed L-188 Electra, crashed on approach to LaGuardia on
February 3,
1959 due to pilot error.
*
Flight 1, a
Boeing 707, crashed shortly after takeoff from Idlewild (now
JFK) airport on
March 1,
1962 due to a maintenance error causing rudder failure.
*
Flight 383, a
Boeing 727, crashed on approach to
Cincinnati airport on
November 8,
1965.
*
Flight 625, a
Boeing 727, crashed on approach to
St. Thomas,
U.S. Virgin Islands on
April 27,
1976.
*
Flight 191, a
McDonnell Douglas DC-10, crashed at O'Hare Airport on
May 25,
1979.
*
Flight 965, a
Boeing 757, crashed on approach to
Cali,
Colombia, on
December 20,
1995.
*
Flight 1420, a
McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashed on landing to
Little Rock, AR on
June 1,
1999.
* Two American Airlines
aircraft were
hijacked and crashed during the
September 11, 2001 attacks:
Flight 77 (a
Boeing 757) and
Flight 11 (a
Boeing 767).
*
Flight 587, an
Airbus A300 crashed in
New York City on
November 12,
2001.
* American almost lost
Flight 63 to "shoe bomber"
Richard Reid on
December 22 of the same year, but the plot was foiled. The flight was en route from
Paris Charles De Gaulle to
Miami, and was diverted to Boston's
Logan Airport.
*A passenger on
Flight 924 who officials said claimed to have a bomb in a carry-on bag was shot and killed by a team of federal
air marshals on a jetway as the plane boarded at
Miami International Airport for a flight to
Orlando,
Florida from
Medellín,
Colombia on
December 7,
2005.
*A
Boeing 767-200 (registered ) that was being checked by American Airlines maintenance at Los Angeles International had a fire is its number 1 engine, in June 2006. It took firefighters close to 15 minutes to extinguish the fire which consumed part of the left wing. There is substantial damage to the aircraft.
*An McDonnell-Douglas MD82 en route San Antonio-Los Angeles (Flight 1581) was forced to make an emergency landing at Los Angeles International on
June 6,
2006 after the pilot reported a hydraulic failure. The aircraft landed safely at 3:50pm and was towed to the gate.
*A
Boeing 777-200 en route
London Heathrow-
New York JFK was forced to make an emergency landing at
Dublin on
June 12,
2006 after the smell of smoke was reported on board.
*An
Airbus A300 en route
San Juan PR-
Orlando (Flight 478) was forced to make an emergency landing at the
Miami International Airport on
June 13,
2006 following a hydraulic problem.
*An MD-80 aircraft, Flight 1740 from Los Angeles to Chicago made a safe emergency landing in Chicago on
June 20,
2006 when the nose gear failed to extend, forcing the plane to land on its body.The aircraft flew by the control tower to confirm the landing gear was not down, then circled the airport to burn fuel. Sparks flew when the plane's nose hit the concrete, but the landing did not cause a fire.
*A
Boeing 777 jet en-route from London Heathrow to LAX lost power/function of one of its engines. It landed safely 30 minutes after trouble was reported at New Yorks' John F. Kennedy Airport on
July 26,
2006. None of the 250 passengers on board were injured, and the incident is under investigation.
* Flight 109 from
London Heathrow Airport to Boston's
Logan Airport was called back to Heathrow on
August 7,
2006 after immigration authorties discovered that a passanger who was on the "no-fly" list was onboard.
As of April, 2006, American's fleet has an average age of 13.3 years [
3]. Almost half of its fleet is comprised of
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 and
MD-83 series twinjets, referred to by AA as "Super 80," denoting the type's original name, "DC-9 Super 80." Much of the Super 80 fleet dates back to the early 1980s, although some were later acquired from TWA. It is widely expected that these aircraft will begin to be phased out in 2007 by Boeing 737 next generation aircraft.
|
An American Eagle ERJ outbound from Washington Reagan National. |
Regardless of age, most of AA's aircraft have been refitted with new interiors in the last few years, with the exception of many
Boeing 757s. AA has also introduced new aircraft to its fleet: the newest are the
Boeing 777-200ERs, which replaced
MD-11s on key transoceanic routes in the late 1990s such as
Tokyo Narita, and
737-800s, which replaced
727s on many domestic and
Caribbean routes.
American has discontinued three-class service on most aircraft, but continues to offer business class on 777 and 767-200 aircraft. First class passengers on 777 routes to London and Frankfurt enjoy the "American Flagship Suite," a first class seat that can swivel inwards toward a personal work area and also recline 90 degrees to become a bed. 767-200 flights between
JFK,
SFO, and
LAX offer three-class "American Flagship Service" which replicates the passenger service offered on long international flights. The business class cabins of American's 767-300 aircraft are in the process of being refitted with electronic "lie-flat" seats. When the installation is complete, the seats will also be introduced on American's 777s.
|
An American Airbus A300 inbound to JFK. |
On all American aircraft (except ex-TWA 757s), passengers in all cabins have a cigarette port DC power port at select seats. All classes of service on the 777 have personal video screens, although they lack Audio/Video On Demand (AVOD) systems. These personal video screens have a "GateConnect" feature which allows passengers to view terminal maps and connecting flight information for their destination airport.
Most recently, American has taken the unique step of redesigning its schedules so that each hub city receives certain aircraft types more often than others, which is intended to simplify maintenance and last-minute fleet substitutions. Chicago, DFW and St. Louis get most MD-80, 757-2Q8, and 757-231 service, Miami gets most 757-223 and 737 service, and JFK gets most A300 and 767-200ER service.
777 and
767-300ER aircraft are usually reserved for high density domestic markets and international flights.
American Airlines was one of three carriers (
Continental Airlines and
Delta Air Lines being the other two) to sign an exclusivity agreement with Boeing in the late 1990s. When Boeing acquired
McDonnell Douglas, the
European Union forced Boeing to void the contracts. However, both parties have been adhering to and intend to adhere to the terms under a
gentlemen's agreement.
Fleet types
| Type | Fleet | Seats, layout | Routes | Airbus A300
(600R) | 34 | 267 (16/251) | High-density, medium-range trunk routes to the Caribbean and along the East Coast to northeastern airports |
McDonnell Douglas MD-82
(S80)
To begin phasing out these aircraft in 2007 and replace with next generation Boeing 737 aircraft. | 266 | 136 (16/120) | Domestic flights, predominantly east-west flights through DFW, Chicago and St. Louis. |
McDonnell Douglas MD-83
(S80)
To begin phasing out these aircraft in 2007 and replace with next generation Boeing 737 aircraft. | 95 | 136 (16/120) | Domestic flights, predominantly east-west flights through DFW, Chicago and St. Louis |
Boeing 737
(823) | 77 | 142 (16/126) | Domestic, Caribbean, Canadian destinations, and Latin American flights. Flights are predominantly operated from Dallas/Forth Worth and Miami. |
Boeing 757
(2Q8/231/223) | 143 | 188 (22/166)
180 (22/158) | Domestic, Caribbean, and Latin American flights; service from Boston to Manchester and Shannon, Canadian destinations. |
Boeing 767
(323ER) | 58 | 213 (30/183) | Medium-haul routes to Europe, Hawaii, and Latin America, premium transcontinental, some hub-to-hub ferrying flights |
Boeing 767
(223ER) | 16 | 158 (9/30/119) | Service from JFK to Bermuda, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Francisco (Non -ER aircraft being phased out of service.) |
Boeing 777
(223ER) | 46 | 224 (16/35/182)
245 (18/35/201) | London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Osaka, Delhi, Shanghai, Brazil, Argentina, DFW-MIA, DFW-ORD, |
Past fleet types
*
BAC 111 (1964-1972)
*
BAe 146 (1987-1993) (ex-
AirCal)
*
Boeing 707 (1959-1981)
*
Boeing 717 (2001-2002) (ex-
TWA)
*
Boeing 727-123 (1964-1993)
*
Boeing 727-223 (1966-2002)
|
American Airlines Boeing 757 |
*
Boeing 737-1xx (1987-1993) (ex-
AirCal)
*
Boeing 737-2xx (1987-1993) (ex-AirCal)
*
Boeing 737-3A4 (1987-1993) (ex-AirCal)
*
Boeing 747-123 (1971-1983) (exchanged with
Pan Am for additional DC-10s; one later used as a
Shuttle Carrier Aircraft)
*
Boeing 747-SP31 (1986-1994)
*
Boeing 757-231 (2001-2006)
*
Boeing 757-2Q8 (2001-2006)
*
Boeing 767-331 (2001-2002) (ex-
TWA)
*
Boeing 767-3YO (2001-2002) (ex-TWA)
*
Convair 240 (1950s-60s)
*
Convair 990 (1970s)
*
Curtiss Condor (1920s-30s)
*
Douglas DC-2 (1930s)
*
Douglas DC-3 (1930s)
*
Douglas DC-4 (1940s)
*
Douglas DC-6 (1947-1966)
*
Douglas DC-7 (1950s)
*
Douglas DC-9 (2001) (ex-
TWA)
*
Fokker F100 (1991-2004) (AA is selling them to Avianca)
*
Ford 5-AT-B Trimotor (1920s)
*
Lockheed L-188 Electra (1950s-60s)
*
McDonnell Douglas DC-10 (1972-2000) (most sold to FedEx)
*
McDonnell Douglas MD-11 (1991-2002) (most sold to FedEx)
*
McDonnell Douglas MD-87 (1999-2001) (ex-Reno Air)
*
McDonnell Douglas MD-90 (1999-2001) (ex-Reno Air)
American's early
liveries varied widely, but a common livery was adopted in the 1930s that featured a large
eagle painted on the fuselage of each aircraft. The eagle became a widely-recognized 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, dubbed "the bug," 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. Originally, this was because C. R. Smith hated painted aircraft, and refused to use any liveries that involved painting the entire plane. 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.
*In the 1960s,
Mattel released a series of
American Airlines stewardess Barbie dolls.
*An "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.
*On 30 Mar 1973 became the first major airline to employ a female pilot when Bonnie Tiburzi was hired to fly Boeing 727s.
*AA was featured prominently in the first two
Home Alone movies.
*In the early 1990s, singer
Janet Jackson made a commercial for AA.
*AA has been a long-time promotional sponsor of
The Oprah Winfrey Show, broadcast from AA's hub city of Chicago.
*AA is one of the few companies to have purchased
naming rights for two sporting venues: the
AmericanAirlines Arena in
Miami and the
American Airlines Center in
Dallas. The
2006 NBA Finals saw the
Miami Heat taking on the
Dallas Mavericks, creating great exposure for American Airlines.
*AA was the first airline to offer
Bloody Mary cocktails on its aircraft. The airline's contract with the garage-based makers of "Mr. and Mrs. T" mix eventually exhausted the small factory's supply and forced Mr. and Mrs. T to sell itself to
Del Monte.
*American received a 100% rating on the first Corporate Equality Index released by the
Human Rights Campaign in 2002 and has maintained their rating in respect to policies on
LGBT employees.
*Lieutenant Governor
Brian Dubie of Vermont made a career being a pilot for American Airlines.
*AA's in-flight magazine is titled
American Way*American Airlines is the first airline to develop a
frequent flyer program, dubbed
AAdvantage and created on May 1, 1981. It remains the largest and most diverse airline loyalty program in the world and maintains an active membership of over 50 million members.
*AA's regional companion American Eagle has nearly completed an extensive fleet transformation replacing their vast number of turboprops with Embraer regional jets and Canadair regional jets, with the exception of the remaining Saab turboprops which they are in the process of phasing out.
*With the average year of American's MD 82/83 fleet approaching 20 years, it is widely expected that they will begin to phase out these aircraft in the next few years and replace them with either the next-generation
Boeing 737 aircraft, or a similiarly sized Airbus product.
Vignelli Associates designed the AA with eagle logo in 1967. Vignelli attributes the introduction of his firm to American Airlines to Henry Dreyfuss, the legendary AA design consultant. Logo, as it was originally designed, is still in use today.
* John M. Capozzi,
A Spirit of Greatness (JMC, 2001), ISBN 0965641031
* Don Bedwell,
Silverbird: The American Airlines Story (Airways, 1999), ISBN 0965399362
* Al Casey,
Casey's Law (Arcade, 1997), ISBN 1559703075
* Simon Forty,
ABC American Airlines (Ian Allan, 1997), ISBN 1882663217
* Dan Reed,
The American Eagle: The Ascent of Bob Crandall and American Airlines (St. Martin's, 1993), ISBN 0312086962
* Robert J. Serling,
Eagle (St. Martin's, 1985), ISBN 0312224532
International Directory of Company Histories, St. James Press.
*
American Airlines*
American Airlines Fleet Age*
American Airlines Fleet Detail*
American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum*
American Airlines current route maps*
American Airlines historical timetables and route maps*
American Way, American's inflight magazine
*
Stop and Think, an American Airlines-funded pro-Wright Amendment group*
Unofficial Guide to American Airlines AAdvantage *
American Airlines AAdvantage Forum on FlyerTalk.com*
American Airlines AAdvantage Bonus Miles Promotions*
American Airlines Seating Charts on LoveMySeat.com*
American Airlines Passenger Opinions
