American Airlines

American Airlines, Inc. (AA), currently operating under bankruptcy protection, is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. American operates an extensive international and domestic network, with scheduled flights throughout North America, the Caribbean, South America, Europe, and Asia/Pacific. On November 29, 2011, AMR Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey stepped down and was replaced by company president Thomas W. Horton.

American has five hubs, Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), Chicago (ORD), Miami (MIA), New York (JFK), and Los Angeles (LAX). 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 has two affiliates: American Eagle and AmericanConnection.

Formation
American Airways was developed from a conglomeration of 82 small airlines through acquisitions in 1930 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. Like many early carriers, American earned its keep carrying US Mail.

American Airlines before World War II
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 was the first carrier to fly, beginning in 1936. American's introduction of the DC-3 made it the first airline to be able to operate a route that could earn a profit solely by transporting passenger; other carriers could still not earn a profit without carrying US Mail. 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.

Postwar developments
After World War II, American acquired American Export Airlines, renaming it as American Overseas Airways, 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. 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 (the basis of today's Travelocity) and built an upgraded terminal at Idlewild (now JFK) Airport in New York City which became the airline's largest base. In the 1960s, Mattel released a series of American Airlines stewardess Barbie dolls, signifying their growing commercial success. 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.

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.

Expansion in the 1980s and 1990s


After moving headquarters to Fort Worth in 1979, American changed its routing to a hub-and-spoke system in 1981, opening its first hubs at DFW and Chicago O'Hare. Led by its new chairman and CEO, Robert Crandall, American began flights from these hubs to Europe and Japan in the mid-1980s.

In the late 1980s, American opened three hubs for north-south traffic. San Jose International Airport was added after American purchased AirCal. American also built a terminal and runway at Raleigh-Durham International Airport for the growing Research Triangle Park nearby and compete with USAir's hub in Charlotte. Nashville was also a hub. In 1988, American Airlines received its first Airbus A300B4-605R aircraft.

In 1990, American Airlines bought the assets of TWA's operations at London Heathrow for $445 million, giving American a hub there. The US/UK Bermuda II treaty, in effect until open skies came into effect in April 2008, barred U.S. airlines from Heathrow with the sole exceptions of American and United Airlines.

Lower fuel prices and a favorable business climate led to higher than average profits in the 1990s. The industry's expansion was not lost on pilots who on February 17, 1997 went on strike for higher wages. President Bill Clinton invoked the Railway Labor Act citing economic impact to the United States, quashing the strike. Pilots settled for wages lower than their demands.

The three new hubs were abandoned in the 1990s: some San Jose facilities were sold to Reno Air, and at Raleigh/Durham to Midway Airlines. Midway went out of business in 2001. American purchased Reno Air in February 1999 and integrated its operations on August 31, 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, as they had with Air California 12 years earlier. The only remaining route from the Air California and Reno Air purchases is San Francisco to Los Angeles.

During this time, concern over airline bankruptcies and falling stock prices brought a warning from American's CEO Robert Crandall. "I've never invested in any airline", Crandall said. "I'm an airline manager. I don't invest in airlines. And I always said to the employees of American, 'This is not an appropriate investment. It's a great place to work and it's a great company that does important work. But airlines are not an investment.'" Crandall noted that since airline deregulation of the 1970s, 150 airlines had gone out of business. "A lot of people came into the airline business. Most of them promptly exited, minus their money", he said.

Miami 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 network in Latin America to become the dominant U.S. carrier in the region.

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

In 1999 American Airlines, together with British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Canadian Airlines and Qantas, founded the global airline alliance Oneworld.

TWA merger and 9/11 to the present
Robert Crandall left in 1998 and was replaced by Donald J. Carty, who negotiated the purchase of the near bankrupt Trans World Airlines (it would file for its 3rd bankruptcy as part of the purchase agreement) and its hub in St. Louis in April 2001.

The merger of seniority lists remains contentious for pilots; the groups were represented by different unions. In the merger, 60 percent of former TWA pilots moved to the bottom of the seniority list at AA. Many were furloughed, and most remain on furlough. The senior TWA captains were integrated at the same seniority level as AA captains hired years later. 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 2001. The senior TWA pilots were able to stay in captain's seats at a higher pay rate with American and were working for a solvent company. The junior TWA pilots were mostly furloughed. On the AA side the captains were mostly unaffected except that AMR inherited TWA debt which decreased the solvency of their parent company. The AA first officers saw hundreds of TWA captains maintain their captain seats even as the company downsized after the 9/11 attacks and subsequent financial crises. The extensive furloughs of former TWA pilots in the wake of the 9/11 attacks disproportionately affected St. Louis and resulted in a significant influx of American Airlines pilots into this base. For cabin crews, all former TWA flight attendants (approximately 4,200) were furloughed by mid-2003 due to the AA flight attendants' union putting TWA flight attendants at the bottom of their seniority list.

American Airlines began losing money in the wake of the TWA merger and the September 11, 2001, attacks (in which two of its planes were destroyed). Carty negotiated wage and benefit agreements with the unions but resigned after union leaders discovered he was planning to award executive compensation packages at the same time. This undermined AA's attempts to increase trust with its workforce and to increase its productivity. The St. Louis hub was also downsized.

In 2002, the airline 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 employees.

AA has undergone additional cost-cutting, including rolling back its "More Room Throughout Coach" program (which eliminated several rows of seats on certain aircraft), ending three-class service on many international flights, and standardizing its fleet at each hub (see below). However, the airline also expanded into new markets, including Ireland, India and mainland China. On July 20, 2005, American announced a quarterly profit for the first time in 17 quarters; the airline earned $58 million in the second quarter of 2005.

AA was a strong backer of the Wright Amendment, which regulated commercial airline operations at Love Field in Dallas. On June 15, 2006, American agreed with Southwest Airlines and the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth to seek repeal of the Wright Amendment on condition that Love Field remained a domestic airport and its gate capacity be limited.

In May 2008, a month after mass grounding of aircraft, American announced capacity cuts and fees to increase revenue and help cover high fuel prices. The airline increased fees such as a $15 charge for the first checked bag and $25 for the second, as well as a $150 change fee for domestic reservations. American's regional airline, American Eagle Airlines, will retire 35 to 40 regional jets as well as its Saab turboprop fleet.

On July 2, 2008, American announced furloughs of up to 950 flight attendants, via Texas' Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act system. This furlough is in addition to the furlough of 20 MD-80 aircraft. American's hub at San Juan, Puerto Rico's Luiz Muñoz Marin International Airport, will be truncated from 38 to 18 daily inbound flights, but the carrier will retain service in a diminished capacity.

On August 13, 2008, The Kansas City Star reported that American would move some overhaul work from its Kansas City, Missouri, base. Repairs on Boeing 757s will be made in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and some 767 maintenance will move there as well; one, possibly two, Boeing 767 repair lines will be retained at Kansas City International Airport. The narrow-body repair hangar will be shut. The city's aviation department offered to upgrade repair facilities on condition that the airline maintain at least 700 jobs.

On June 26, 2009, rumors of a merger with US Airways resurfaced to much speculation within the online aviation community.

In August 2009, American was placed under credit watch, along with United Airlines and US Airways. All Airbus A300 jets were retired by the end of August and are currently stored in Roswell, New Mexico.

On October 28, 2009, American notified its employees that it would close its Kansas City maintenance base in September 2010, and would also close or make cutbacks at five smaller maintenance stations, resulting in the loss of up to 700 jobs. American closed its maintenance base at Kansas City (MCI) on September 24, 2010.

In early July 2010, it was reported that American Airlines was trying to find buyers for its regional airline American Eagle. The move followed Delta Air Lines and its spin off of its wholly owned regional airlines Compass Airlines and Mesaba Airlines.

MD-80 maintenance controversies
American Airlines has had repeated run-ins with the FAA regarding maintenance of its MD-80 fleet (the company is the single largest operator of the craft); the costs associated with operating these jets has affected American's bottom line. American Airlines canceled 1,000 flights to inspect wire bundles over three days in April 2008 to make sure they complied with government safety regulations. This caused significant inconvenience to passengers and financial problems for the airline. American has begun the process of replacing its older MD-80 jets with Boeing 737s. The newer MD-80s will continue to serve until the next generation Boeing narrowbody aircraft (Boeing Y1) is available.

In September 2009, the Associated Press and The Wall Street Journal reported that American was accused of hiding repeated maintenance lapses on at least 16 MD-80s from the FAA. Repair issues included such items as faulty emergency slides, improper engine coatings, incorrectly drilled holes and other examples of shoddy workmanship. The most serious alleged lapse is a failure to repair cracks to pressure bulkheads; the rupture of a bulkhead could lead to cabin depressurization. It is also alleged that the airline retired one airplane in order to hide it from FAA inspectors; the airline countered that FAA inspectors always have full access to any airplane, retired or not.

Potential negotiations with Japan Airlines
On September 12, 2009, American Airlines' parent company, AMR Corporation announced that they were looking into buying some of the financially struggling Japan Airlines. AMR is not the only company planning to buy a stake in the airline: rival Delta Air Lines is also looking into investing in the troubled airline, along with Delta's partner Air France-KLM. Both Delta and AF-KLM are part of SkyTeam, Oneworld's alliance rival. Japan Airlines called off negotiations of the possible deal with all airlines on October 5, 2009.

On October 21, 2009, Gerard Arpey, the CEO of American Airlines, said the airline and its Oneworld Alliance of global airlines remains committed to a partnership with Japan Airlines, as long as the carrier remains a major international carrier.

On November 18, 2009, Delta Air Lines, with help from TPG, made a bid of $1 billion for JAL to partner with them. Two days later, reports came from Japan that AA and TPG had teamed up and made a $1.5 billion cash offer to JAL, which they might consider doing.

On February 9, 2010, Japan Airlines officially announced that it will strengthen its relationship with American Airlines and Oneworld.

On January 11, 2011, both JAL and American Airlines announced that they will start their joint-venture operation starting April 1, 2011.

Antitrust immunity
In February 2010, the USDOT granted AA preliminary antitrust immunity to allow the airline to work with British Airways, Iberia Airlines, Finnair and Royal Jordanian Airlines on transatlantic routes. The partnership was officially approved by the USDOT on July 20, 2010. On October 1, American, British Airways, and Iberia launched their joint venture, enabling, among other things, frequent flyers to earn and redeem miles on each other's flights.

Less than a week after American's transatlantic joint venture was launched, the DOT gave preliminary approval to American's new transpacific joint venture with Japan Airlines on October 7, Japan gave final approval to the venture later that month. and the immunity grant was finalized in early November 2010

Expanded New York City service
On March 31, 2010, American announced an expansion of its New York City service, both at JFK and LaGuardia Airports, in addition to a partnership with JetBlue. American added several routes from LaGuardia, including service to Atlanta, Charlotte, and Minneapolis/St.Paul. All of these routes are flown with CRJ-700 aircraft outfitted with First Class seating. Also, American is looking to refurbish the Admirals Club at LaGuardia and find a way to connect Concourse C and D so that passengers connecting between the two concourses do not have to reclear security, and so that passengers whose flights depart from Concourse C can use the Admiral's Club, located in Concourse D. Concourse D is also going to be renovated.
 * LaGuardia

At JFK Airport, American added new routes to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Madrid, Spain, and San Jose, Costa Rica. American is going to add 3,000 square feet (280 m2) to its 11,000-square-foot (1,000 m 2 ) existing Admirals Club in the C Concourse of Terminal 8. Also, American and British Airways are looking into building onto the existing Terminal 8, allowing the two carriers to co-locate and make for easier connections.
 * JFK

On March 31, 2010, American and JetBlue announced a partnership regarding the interlining of routes between the airlines. 27 of JetBlue's destinations that are not served by American and 13 of American's international destinations from New York and Boston are included in the agreement. Also, American is giving JetBlue 8 slot pairs (a slot pair is one arrival slot and one departure slot) at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and 1 slot pair at Westchester County Airport. In return, JetBlue is giving American 12 slot pairs at JFK Airport.
 * Partnership with JetBlue

On July 19, 2010, AA announced that, by the end of 2010, flyers will be able to receive either AAdvantage miles or TrueBlue points on their interline itineraries connecting in JFK or Boston. Effective November 18, 2010, the two airlines will give the traveler miles in either program when flying on a qualifying route, regardless of whether the travels include an international connection.

It has also been confirmed that the two airlines have been negotiating a codeshare arrangement between themselves, though no agreement has been signed yet.

Expanded Los Angeles service
On October 20, 2010, American announced new and upgraded domestic service from LAX Airport in Los Angeles. New routes include service to Houston, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, and Shanghai (see below), all on American Eagle with the exception of Shanghai. The four-times-daily service between LAX and Denver is also being upgraded to the CRJ-700, which includes a first class cabin. Furthermore, American is increasing frequencies between LAX and Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Las Vegas, and Orlando.

New routes
On February 16, 2010, American applied to the US Department of Transportation to begin nonstop service to Tokyo's Haneda Airport. American planned to begin service beginning October 1, 2010 from New York-JFK and Los Angeles with Boeing 777-200ER aircraft. On May 7, 2010, the US Department of Transportation tentatively awarded American Airlines the right to begin nonstop service from JFK Airport to Tokyo-Haneda, but denied American's bid to serve Haneda from LAX. American planned to begin service to Tokyo-Haneda from JFK on January 20, 2011; however, the airline decided to postpone the service until February 18, 2011 citing low booking demand. American commenced service in 2011 from Chicago O'Hare International Airport to Helsinki's Vantaa Airport in Finland, as well as service between New York JFK and Budapest, Hungary.
 * Haneda Airport, Tokyo

On October 1, 2010, American announced that it will file an application to the US Department of Transportation to operate daily nonstop flights between Los Angeles and Shanghai, China. The airline was granted approval from the US DOT to begin the Los Angeles-Shanghai route on April 5, 2011. The airline is also considering on flying to Hong Kong and Guangzhou.
 * Shanghai and further China expansion

Dispute with Expedia and Orbitz
Since late 2010, American Airlines has been involved in a dispute with two online ticketing agencies, Expedia and Orbitz. This relates to American's "Direct Connect" fare booking system for large travel agents, which Expedia claimed might raise costs and was less transparent for passengers. The Direct Connect allows American to exert more control over their distribution, save costs and better sell ancillary services to their customers. In December 2010 American pulled their price listings from Orbitz, and on January 1, 2011, Expedia removed American Airlines' fares from their site.

Bankruptcy
On November 29, 2011 AMR Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with $4 billion of cash. The decision comes as the airline tries to "achieve a cost and debt structure that is industry competitive and thereby assure its long-term viability and ability to continue delivering a world-class travel experience for its customers," the company said in a statement. American Airlines stated that despite the filing it was continuing normal operations. Chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey stepped down and was replaced by company president Thomas W. Horton.

The new CEO said there would probably be jobs cut due to reduction to the flight schedule.

Headquarters
American Airlines is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, adjacent to the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

Before it was headquartered in Texas, American Airlines was headquartered at 633 Third Avenue in the Murray Hill area of Midtown Manhattan, New York City. In 1978 American announced that it would move its headquarters to a site at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in 1979. The move affected up to 1,300 jobs. Mayor of New York City Ed Koch described this move as a "betrayal" of New York City. American moved to two leased office buildings in Grand Prairie, Texas. The airline finished moving into a $150 million (1983 dollars), 550,000-square-foot (51,000 m 2 ) facility in Fort Worth on January 17, 1983; $147 million in Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport bonds financed the headquarters. The airline began leasing the facility from the airport, which owns the facility.

Personnel
The Allied Pilots Association is the in-house union which represents the 12 thousand American Airlines pilots. The union was created in 1963 after the pilots disposed of the ALPA union.

Communication
In 1967, Massimo Vignelli designed the famous AA logo. Thirty years later, in 1997, American Airlines was able to make its logo internet-compatible by buying the domain AA.com. AA also corresponds to the Airlines IATA number. The original AA logo is still in use today, being "one of the few logos that simply needs no change".

In March 2000, American received the CIO Magazine's 2000 Web Business 50/50 Award for its AA.com web site.

Environmental record
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has awarded American Airlines its 2005 Governor's Award for its outstanding efforts in environmental protection and pollution prevention. American Airline's wastewater treatment plant recycles water used at the base of the wash aircraft, process rinse water tanks, and irrigates landscape. That alone has saved almost $1 million since 2002. In addition to that, American Airlines has also won the award for the reduction of hazardous waste that saved them $229,000 after a $2,000 investment. A bar code system is used to track hazardous waste. It has led to reduction of waste by 50 percent since 2000.

Violations occurring over a 4½ year period – from October 1993 to July 1998 – targeted American Airlines for using high-sulfur fuel in motor vehicles at 10 major airports around the country. Under the federal Clean Air Act high sulfur fuel cannot be used in motor vehicles. American Airlines promptly identified and corrected these violations of the Clean Air Act.

In January 2012 allegations came to light that American Airlines had been using treatment chemicals banned by the EPA since 2010. A former executive stepped forward under the Whistleblower Protection Act, and the case is currently being investigated by the FAA and the Department of Justice.

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 Massimo Vignelli, an acclaimed industrial and graphic 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, Vignelli 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 (N679AN) in its 1959 international orange livery. There is a Boeing 737–800 in the retro AstroJet livery. One Boeing 777 and one Boeing 757 are painted in standard livery with a pink ribbon on the sides and on the tail, in support for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

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, US Airways, Flying Tigers, Dominicana, Cathay Pacific Cargo and Northwest Airlines have also maintained unpainted airplanes.

NASA's Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, with the registry N905NA, originally belonged to American Airlines, and in its early years still bore the distinct American pinstriping. By the early 1980s, however, NASA decided to discontinue using the American livery and replaced it with its own livery, consisting of a white fuselage and blue pinstriping.

Slogans

 * Current – "Be yourself. Nonstop."
 * Current – "We know why you fly." (Spanish: "Sabemos por qué vuelas")
 * AA/TWA merger – "Two great airlines, one great future."
 * 2001 (post-9/11) – "We are an airline that is proud to bear the name American."
 * Early – mid 1990s – "We Mean Business In Chicago." (Used for marketing in the Chicago market.)
 * 1988 – mid 1990s – "Based Here. Best Here." (Used for marketing in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.)
 * Late 1980s – "No other Airline gives you more of America, than American."
 * 1984–2000 – "Something special in the air." (Variant used for website: "Something special online.", Spanish variant: "Todo es especial, tú eres especial.")
 * 1982 – late 1980s – "En American, tenemos lo que tú buscas." (Spanish slogan, translated to "At American, we've got what you're looking for").
 * 1980s – 1988 – "The On-Time Machine."
 * 1976–1984 – "We're American Airlines. Doing what we do best." (The tune used for the campaign would be retained for several years with the "Something special in the air" slogan).
 * 1971 – mid 1970s – "Our passengers get the best of everything."
 * 1969–1971 – "It's good to know you're on American Airlines."
 * 1967–1969 – "Fly the American Way."
 * 1964–1967 – "American built an airline for professional travelers."
 * 1950s – early 1960s – "America's Leading Airline."