American Airlines

Note: For the arenas named after this company, see American Airlines Center (Dallas, Texas), or American Airlines Arena (Miami, Florida).

History

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. In 1934, American Airways Company, in financial straits, was acquired by E.L. Cord, who renamed the company "American Airlines". 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.

Related Topics:
E.L. Cord - Midway Airport - Chicago, Illinois - Flight attendant

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The main American Airlines route until the late 1950s was from New York and Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles via Dallas. One of the early American Airlines presidents, C.R. (Cyrus Rowlett) 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," which was initially an honorary club for valued passengers and later became the world's first airline lounge (at LaGuardia Airport). 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.

Related Topics:
New York - Chicago, Illinois - Los Angeles - Dallas - C.R. (Cyrus Rowlett) Smith - Donald Douglas - DC-3 - 1936 - Airline lounge - LaGuardia Airport

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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 also launched flights to Mexico in the 1940s, and built several airports in northern Mexico to serve as diversion points for aircraft bound for Mexico City.

Related Topics:
World War II - American Overseas Airways - Europe - Pan Am - 1948 - Mexico - Mexico City

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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. During the 1970s, American acquired its first Boeing 747s and began flights to Australia and New Zealand, although it traded these routes to Pan Am in 1975 in exchange for routes to the Caribbean.

Related Topics:
25 January - 1959 - 707 - Convair 990 - Lockheed Electras - Boeing 747 - Australia - New Zealand - Pan Am

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Following a financial slump in the 1970s under the leadership of former general counsel George Spater, American hired Robert Crandall as a young executive from Bloomingdales, who introduced, among other innovations, the world's first frequent flyer miles (AAdvantage) and corporate travel card (AAirpass). After discovering several thousand unused 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 Casey as CEO and Chairman in 1985.

Related Topics:
General counsel - George Spater - Robert Crandall - CRT - Travel agent - Computer reservations system

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In the meantime, American Airlines had moved its corporate headquarters from New York City to Fort Worth, Texas in 1979 (under CEO Al Casey), and changed its routing to a hub-and-spoke system starting in 1981, opening its first hubs in Dallas/Fort Worth and Chicago. 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, in Nashville, San Jose (added in the purchase of Air California), and Raleigh/Durham. All three were abandoned in the mid-1990s in favor of expanded service at Miami, which became a hub after American bought Central and South American routes from Eastern Airlines in 1990.

Related Topics:
New York City - Fort Worth, Texas - 1979 - Al Casey - Hub-and-spoke system - 1981 - Dallas/Fort Worth - Europe - Japan - Nashville - San Jose - Air California - Raleigh/Durham - Miami - Eastern Airlines - 1990

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

Related Topics:
15 October - 1998

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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 2001. American Airlines completed the purchase of Reno Air in February 1999 and fully integrated its operations on 31 August 1999. In April 2001 it purchased the assets of TWA. In the wake of the TWA merger and the roughly concurrent September 11 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.

Related Topics:
1998 - Donald J. Carty - Trans World Airlines - 2001 - Reno Air - 1999 - 31 August - September 11 attacks

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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 and western Japan. In 2005, AA received FAA approval to serve Shanghai from Chicago O'Hare beginning April 2, 2006, its first expansion into Asia since an abortive attempt to serve Taipei in mid-2001.

Related Topics:
Ireland - Japan - 2005 - Shanghai - April 2 - 2006 - Taipei - 2001

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On July 20, 2005, for the first time in 17 quarters, American announced a quarterly profit; the airline earned $58 million in Q2 2005.

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