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American Airlines
*** Shopping-Tip: American Airlines
{{dablink|For the arenas named after this company, see
American Airlines Center (
Dallas, Texas), or
American Airlines Arena (
Miami, Florida)}}
{{Infobox_Airline |
airline = American Airlines |
logo = AA logo.svg |
logo_size = 250px |
fleet_size = 707 |
destinations = 171 |
IATA = AA |
ICAO = AAL |
callsign = American |
parent =
AMR Corporation|
founded = 1930 (as American Airways)|
headquarters =
Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth,
Texas |
key_people = Gerard Arpey (
CEO)
James Beer (
CFO) |
hubs =
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport Dallas-Fort Worth Int'l Airport Lambert Saint Louis International Airport Lambert Saint Louis Int'l Airport O'Hare International Airport Miami International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy Int'l Airport Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport|
focus_cities =
La Guardia AirportLos Angeles International Airport Los Angeles Int'l Airport Logan International Airport |
frequent_flyer =
AAdvantage |
lounge =
Admirals Club |
alliance =
Oneworld (airlines) '''one'''world |
website = http://www.aa.com/ |
}}
image:San.juan.arp.750pix.jpg thumb|right|250px|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 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 and
India. The
chairman and
CEO of AA is
Gerard Arpey. In 2005 the airline netted over 98 million
Revenue passenger mile 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 five hubs:
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Dallas/Fort Worth,
O'Hare International Airport Chicago O'Hare,
Miami International Airport Miami,
Lambert-Saint Louis International Airport St. Louis, and
Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport San Juan.
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport 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 and
JFK International Airport New York City-JFK serve as a focus cities and international gateways. American operates maintenance bases at
Tulsa International Airport Tulsa,
Kansas City International Airport Kansas City, and
Fort Worth Alliance Airport Fort Worth Alliance.
American Eagle Airlines is an airline based in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. It is a regional airline partner of American Airlines (both are wholly owned by AMR Corporation).
American is a founding member of the
Oneworld (airlines) oneworld airline alliance.
History
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, Massachusetts Boston,
New York City New York and
Chicago, Illinois to
Dallas, Texas Dallas, and a transcontinental route from Dallas to
Los Angeles, California 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. Smith C.R. (Cyrus Rowlett) Smith to run the company. Early in its history, the company was headquartered at
Midway Airport in
Chicago, Illinois. American's innovations during this period included the introduction of
flight attendants.
Image:American DC-3.jpg Douglas DC-3.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|left|250px|American played a major role in the development of the [[Douglas DC-3, dubbed "Flagship" in the American fleet.html" title="Meaning of left|250px|American played a major role in the development of the [[Douglas DC-3">thumb|left|250px|American played a major role in the development of the [[Douglas DC-3, dubbed "Flagship" in the American fleet">left|250px|American played a major role in the development of the [[Douglas DC-3">thumb|left|250px|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
Douglas DC-3 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
Airport lounge airline lounge at the new
LaGuardia Airport, 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 Airways to serve
Europe; however, AOA was sold to rival
Pan Am in 1948. AA launched another subsidiary around the same time, American Airlines de Mexico S.A., to operate flights to
Mexico, and built several airports in northern Mexico to serve as diversion points for aircraft bound for
Mexico City.
American Airlines introduced the first transcontinental jet service on
25 January 1959. With the introduction of
Boeing 707 707 "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 L-188 Electra Lockheed Electras. The company also launched the first electronic booking system, named
Sabre (computer system) Sabre, together with
IBM.
During the 1970s, American acquired its first
Boeing 747s; depressed passenger numbers at the time led American to fit many of its 747s with
Wurlitzer pianos in the main cabin. Following the
Transpacific Route Case, AA began 747 flights to
Australia and
New Zealand, although it traded these routes to
Pan Am in 1975 in exchange for routes to the Caribbean. The 747s were soon moved to cargo service, and replaced in passenger service with
McDonnell Douglas DC-10s.
Following a financial slump in the 1970s under the leadership of former
general counsel George Spater, American hired seasoned manager
Albert Casey. Casey decided to move American's corporate headquarters from
New York City to
Fort Worth, Texas in 1979. American opened a new corporate campus on the site of the closed
Greater Southwest International Airport, just south of the new
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.
On C.R. Smith's advice, American also hired a young finance executive,
Robert Crandall, who had previously worked for
Bloomingdale's and
TWA. Crandall introduced, among other innovations, the world's first frequent flyer miles (AAdvantage) and corporate travel card (AAirpass). After discovering several thousand unused
cathode ray tube CRT terminals in a Tulsa hangar, Crandall ordered them refurbished and provided to
travel agents, creating the first airline-owned agent-accessible
computer reservations system. Crandall was named American's President in 1980, and succeeded
Albert Casey as CEO and Chairman in 1985.
Expansion in 1980s and 1990s
image:americanairlines.arp.750pix.jpg Boeing 767.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|left|250px|In the 1990s, American switched to an all-twinjet fleet. [[Boeing 767 aircraft replaced older
McDonnell Douglas DC-10 DC-10s on many transatlantic routes.html" title="Meaning of left|250px|In the 1990s, American switched to an all-twinjet fleet. [[Boeing 767">thumb|left|250px|In the 1990s, American switched to an all-twinjet fleet. [[Boeing 767 aircraft replaced older
McDonnell Douglas DC-10 DC-10s on many transatlantic routes">left|250px|In the 1990s, American switched to an all-twinjet fleet. [[Boeing 767">thumb|left|250px|In the 1990s, American switched to an all-twinjet fleet. [[Boeing 767 aircraft replaced older
McDonnell Douglas DC-10 DC-10s on many transatlantic routes
American changed its routing to a
spoke-hub distribution paradigm 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.
Norman Y. Mineta San José International Airport 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 Douglas International Airport Charlotte.
Nashville International Airport 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.[http://www.iht.com/articles/1997/02/17/fly.t_1.php] 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 International Airport Miami also became a hub after American bought Central and South American routes from
Eastern Airlines 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
image:american.b777-200er.n780an.arp.jpg thumb|250px|American Airlines Boeing 777-200ER landing
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 the different labor unions was a contentious issue. The TWA pilots belonged to the
Air Line Pilots Association (
ALPA) and the American Airlines pilots belonged to the
Allied Pilots Association (APA). The pilots of the APA took a position that the TWA pilots could not get something for nothing. Namely, job security and retirement benefits without giving up something -- seniority. The ALPA pilots felt they deserved a more fair distribution within the APA seniority list.
As a result, 60 percent of all former TWA pilots were moved to the bottom of the seniority list at American Airlines. For example, the senior-most former TWA captain, hired in 1963 was integrated at the same seniority level as a 1985-hire American captain. To keep some relative seniority, the TWA pilots were given "super-seniority" and a specified ratio of captain's jobs (relative to other domiciles) if they stayed within the St. Louis pilot domicile. If they decided to leave the St. Louis pilot domicile, they would have to compete for jobs on the basis of their integrated seniority number. The result was that most former TWA pilots stayed in the St. Louis domicile and roughly maintained their same relative seniority; albeit stuck within the St. Louis domicile. A few former TWA pilots flew in the co-pilot seat next to AA pilots with significantly less seniority and experience when they decided to transfer to one of the other American Airlines pilot domiciles.
Of the appoximately 2300 TWA pilots who were integrated, approximately 400 were slated for mandatory retirement before the integration actually took place.
As of
July 2,
2003, 100% of all former TWA flight attendants were furloughed by American Airlines (approximately 4,200 employees). This was due to the American Airlines flight attendant union putting all the 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.
image:AA bird logo.svg thumb|right|100px|Logo as pictured on their tail fin and when referring to the website aa.com
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, western
Japan, and
India. American Airlines is also expanding to
China in
2006.
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, and is lobbying for the preservation of the
Wright Amendment, which regulates
Southwest Airlines' operations at
Love Field in Dallas.
Codesharing agreements
American currently has
Code sharing 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,
TACA (airline) Grupo TACA (to be discontinued soon),
Gulf Air,
Hawaiian Airlines,
Iberia Airlines Iberia,
Japan Airlines,
LAN (airline) LAN Airlines,
Mexicana,
Qantas Airways,
SN Brussels Airlines,
SNCF,
Swiss International Air Lines (to be discontinued soon),
TAM Linhas Aéreas TAM Airlines,
Turkish Airlines and
Vietnam Airlines.
AmericanConnection, which feeds American's hub at
Lambert Saint Louis International Airport, is also a codesharing operation with three regional carriers.
Image:American.b777.rearview.arp.750pix.jpg London Heathrow Airport.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|250px|AA 777-200ER landing at [[London Heathrow Airport..html" title="Meaning of 250px|AA 777-200ER landing at [[London Heathrow Airport">thumb|250px|AA 777-200ER landing at [[London Heathrow Airport.">250px|AA 777-200ER landing at [[London Heathrow Airport">thumb|250px|AA 777-200ER landing at [[London Heathrow Airport.
Destinations
{{further|
American Airlines destinations}}
New services/Future destinations
American Airlines has begun to expand its network internationally, especially
Asia. Major hubs such as
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and
Chicago O'Hare International Airport are constantly introduced to new destinations.
On November 1, 2005, American Airlines re-introduced a non-stop flight from Dallas/Fort Worth
to Osaka Kansai, Japan. This flight was initially discontinued after the September 11 terroist attacks.
On
November 15 2005, American Airlines operated its first nonstop flight to
India from
United States. Service was flown from
Chicago (
O'Hare International Airport) to Delhi (
Indira Gandhi International Airport) becoming the second US carrier (after Continental) to serve India nonstop. It was their longest nonstop flight at the time of introduction. [http://www.aa.com/content/amrcorp/pressReleases/2005_07/12_delhi.jhtml]
Nonstop services from
Chicago O'Hare International Airport Chicago O'Hare to
Shanghai (
Shanghai Pudong International Airport),
China were launched on
April 2,
2006 becoming the third US carrier (after Continental and United) to serve Mainland China nonstop and the second US carrier (after United) to serve Shanghai nonstop.
On
December 13,
2005, American announced that it will begin services at
Love Field in
Dallas, Texas, in competition with
Southwest Airlines. American will offer mainline flights from Love to
Lambert Saint Louis International Airport St. Louis and
Kansas City International Airport Kansas City, as well as commuter flights to
Austin Bergstrom International Airport Austin and
San Antonio International Airport San Antonio, beginning in March 2006.
Service to
Pittsburgh International Airport will be added from
LaGuardia Airport starting on
April 3,
2006.
Incidents and accidents
*
American Airlines Flight 320, a
Lockheed L-188 Electra, crashed on approach to LaGuardia on
February 3,
1959 due to pilot error.
*
American Airlines Flight 1, a
Boeing 707, crashed shortly after takeoff from Idewild (now
John F. Kennedy Airport JFK) airport on
March 1,
1962 due to a maintenance error causing rudder failure.
*
American Airlines Flight 383, a
Boeing 727, crashed on approach to
Cincinnati airport on
November 8,
1965.
*
American Airlines Flight 625, a
Boeing 727, crashed on approach to
St. Thomas,
U.S. Virgin Islands on
April 27,
1976.
*
American Airlines Flight 191, a
McDonnell Douglas DC-10, crashed at O'Hare Airport on
May 25,
1979.
*
American Airlines Flight 965, a
Boeing 757, crashed on approach to
Santiago de Cali Cali,
Colombia, on
December 20,
1995.
*
American Airlines 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 Terrorist Attack:
American Airlines flight 77 Flight 77 (a
Boeing 757) and
American Airlines Flight 11 Flight 11 (a
Boeing 767).
*
American Airlines Flight 587, an
Airbus A300 crashed in
New York City on
November 12,
2001.
* American almost lost
American Airlines Flight 63 Flight 63 to "shoe bomber"
Richard Reid (terrorist) Richard Reid on
December 22 of the same year, but the plot was foiled. The flight was en route from
Charles De Gaulle International Airport Paris Charles De Gaulle to
Miami International Airport Miami, and was diverted to Boston's
Logan International Airport Logan Airport.
*A passenger on
American Airlines Flight 924 who officials said claimed to have a bomb in a carry-on bag was shot and killed by a team of federal
Federal Air Marshal Service air marshals on a jetway as the plane boarded at
Miami International Airport for a flight to
Orlando, Florida Orlando,
Florida from
Medellín,
Colombia on
December 7,
2005.
Fleet
American operates a relatively young fleet, with an average age of 13.3 years [http://www.airsafe.com/events/airlines/fleetage.htm]. Almost half of its fleet is comprised of
McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas DC-9#MD-80 series MD-82 and
McDonnell Douglas DC-9#MD-80 series 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 they own some newer examples acquired from TWA. 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 Commercial Airplanes Boeing Boeing 777 777-200ERs, which replaced
McDonnell Douglas MD-11 MD-11s on key transoceanic routes in the late 1990s such as
Narita International Airport Tokyo Narita, and
Boeing 737 737-800s, which replaced
Boeing 727 727s and the
BAC-111s on some 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
John F. Kennedy International Airport JFK,
San Francisco International Airport SFO, and
Los Angeles International Airport LAX offer three-class "American Flagship Service" which replicates the passenger service offered on long international flights.
Image:IMG 1265r.jpg thumb|250px|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 777-223ER have personal video screens, although they lack Audio/Video On Demand (AVOD) systems. These personal video screens have an AAmazing feature, GateConnect which allows passengers to view maps of the destination airports (gates, security checkpoints, baggage claims, etc) and find out information on connecting flights from that same airport such as gate, aircraft, etc.
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. Currently, Chicago, DFW and St. Louis get most Boeing MD-80(S80), 757-2Q8, and 757-231 service, Miami gets most 757-223 and 737 service, and JFK gets most A300 and 767-200 service.
Boeing 777 777-223ER's and
Boeing 767 767-323ER's 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.
{| class="wikitable"
!Type
!Fleet
!Seats, layout
!Routes
|-
|
Boeing 777 Boeing 777-223ER
|46
|236 (16/35/194)
238 (18/42/163)
|London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Osaka, Delhi, Shanghai, Brazil, Argentina, DFW-MIA, DFW-ORD, DFW-LAX
|-
|
Airbus A300 Airbus A300-600R
|34
|267 (16/251)
|High-density, medium-range trunk routes to the Caribbean and along the East Coast
|-
|
Boeing 767 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 Boeing 767-223ER
|16
|158 (9/30/119)
|Service from JFK to Bermuda, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Francisco
(Non -ER aircraft currently being phased out of service.)
|-
|
Boeing 757 Boeing 757-2Q8,757-231,757-223
|143
|188 (22/166)
180 (22/158)
|Domestic, Caribbean, and Latin American flights; service from Boston to Manchester and Shannon
|-
|
Boeing 737 Boeing 737-823
|77
|142 (16/126)
|Domestic, Caribbean, and Latin American flights
|-
|
McDonnell Douglas DC-9#MD-80 series Boeing MD-82 (S80)
|266
|129 (16/115)
|Domestic flights, predominantly east-west flights through DFW, Chicago and St. Louis
|-
|
McDonnell Douglas DC-9#MD-80 series Boeing MD-83 (S80)
|95
|131 (16/115)
|Domestic flights, predominantly east-west flights through DFW, Chicago and St. Louis
|}
In March 2006, the average age of American Airlines fleet is 13.3 years
American Airlines has operated a wide variety of aircraft types, including:
*
BAC 111 (1964-1972)
*
BAe 146 (1987-1993) AirCal
*
Boeing 707 (1959-1981)
*
Boeing 717 (2001-2002) TWA Airlines LLC
*
Boeing 727 Boeing 727-123 (1964-1993)
*
Boeing 727 Boeing 727-223 (1966-2002)
image:AA757.JPG thumb|right|250px|American Airlines Boeing 757
*
Boeing 737 Boeing 737-1xx (1987-1993) AirCal
*
Boeing 737 Boeing 737-2xx (1987-1993) AirCal
*
Boeing 737 Boeing 737-3A4 (1987-1993) AirCal
*
Boeing 747 Boeing 747-123 (1971-1983) (exchanged with
Pan Am for additional DC-10s; one was later used as
Shuttle Carrier Aircraft)
*
Boeing 747SP (1986-1994)
*
Boeing 757 Boeing 757-231 (2001-2006)
*
Boeing 757 Boeing 757-2Q8 (2001-2006)
*
Boeing 767 Boeing 767-331 (2001-2002) TWA Airlines LLC
*
Boeing 767 Boeing 767-3YO (2001-2002) TWA Airlines LLC
*
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) TWA Airlines LLC
*
Fokker F100 (1991-2004)
*
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) Reno Air
*
McDonnell Douglas MD-90 (1999-2001) Reno Air
(Air Cal) Aircraft obtained during 1986
Air California AirCal acquisition.
(Reno Air) Aircraft obtained during 1999
Reno Air acquisition.
(TWA Airlines LLC) Aircraft obtained during 2001
Trans World Airlines acquisition.
Livery
American's early
livery 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 Airlines and
USAir have also maintained unpainted airplanes in the past.
Miscellaneous
*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.
*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
American Airlines Arena in
Miami, Florida Miami and the
American Airlines Center in
Dallas, Texas Dallas.
*AA was the first airline to offer
Bloody Mary (cocktail) 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.
Sources
* 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.
External links
{{Commons|American Airlines}}
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American Airlines
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American Airlines Fleet Age
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American Airlines Fleet Detail
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American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum
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Historical timetables and route maps
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''American Way'', American's inflight magazine
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Unofficial Guide to American Airlines AAdvantage
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American Airlines AAdvantage Forum on FlyerTalk.com
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American Airlines AAdvantage Bonus Miles Promotions
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Category:Airlines of the United States
Category:American Airlines
Category:Asia Miles
Category:Companies based in Texas
Category:Fort Worth, Texas
de:American Airlines
es:American Airlines
fi:American Airlines
fr:American Airlines
ja:アメリカン航空
nl:American Airlines
no:American Airlines
pl:American Airlines
pt:American Airlines
sv:American Airlines
zh:美国航空
Image:American Airlines logo.png right
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Category:Airlines of the United States
Category:Dallas-Fort Worth Texas based companies
Category:Oneworld
*** Shopping-Tip: American Airlines
