American Airlines
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American Airlines, Inc. (AA) is a major airline of the United States.[1] It is the world's largest airline in passenger miles transported[1] and passenger fleet size; third largest, behind FedEx Express and Delta Air Lines, in aircraft operated; and second behind Air France-KLM in operating revenues.[1] A subsidiary of the AMR Corporation, the airline is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, adjacent to the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.[1] American operates scheduled flights throughout the United States, and flights to Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Japan, the People's Republic of China, and India. The Chairman, President, and CEO of AA is Gerard Arpey. In 2005, the airline flew more than 138 billion revenue passenger miles (RPM).
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Overview
In May 2008, American served 260 cities (excluding codeshares with partner airlines) with 655 aircraft.[1] 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 trans/inter/intracontinental market. American Airlines' total revenue for the year was 23.8 Billion, of which $18.2 Billion came from Mainline division, $2.49B from Regional, and $874 Million from Cargo.[1]
American has four hubs: Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), Chicago (ORD), Miami (MIA), and New York (JFK).[1] 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. Los Angeles (LAX), St. Louis (STL), San Juan (SJU), and Boston (BOS) serve as focus cities and international gateways. American currently operates maintenance bases at Tulsa (TUL), Kansas City (MCI), and Fort Worth Alliance (AFW), but American has announced that the Kansas City base will close in September 2010.[1]
American Airlines has one regional affiliate:
- American Eagle Airlines, with hubs in Chicago O'Hare, Dallas Ft Worth, New York LaGuardia, Los Angeles, Miami and San Juan.
- American Eagle Airlines provides regional feed to American throughout the United States, the Caribbean, Canada, and Mexico.
- American Airlines is a founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance.[1]
Communication
In 1967, Massimo Vignelli designed the famous AA Logo.[1][1] Thirty years later, in 1997, American Airlines was able to make its logo Internet-compatible by buying the domain AA.com.[1] 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.
History
Formation
American Airlines was developed from a conglomeration of 82 small airlines through acquisitions and reorganizations: initially, American Airways was a common brand by a number of independent carriers. These included Southern Air Transport in Texas, Southern Air Fast Express (SAFE) in the western US, Universal Aviation in the Midwest (which operated a transcontinental air/rail route in 1929), Thompson Aeronautical Services (which operated a Detroit-Cleveland route beginning in 1929) and Colonial Air Transport in the Northeast.
On January 25, 1930, American Airways was incorporated as a single company, based in New York, with routes from Boston, New York and Chicago to Dallas, and from Dallas to Los Angeles. The airline operated wood and fabric-covered Fokker Trimotors and all-metal Ford Trimotors. In 1934 American began flying Curtiss Condor biplanes with sleeping berths.
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 started flying in 1936. With the DC-3, American began calling its aircraft "Flagships" and establishing the Admirals Club for valued passengers. The DC-3s had a four-star "admiral's pennant" outside the cockpit window while the aircraft was parked, one of the most well-known images of the airline at the time.
American Airlines was first to cooperate with Fiorello LaGuardia to build an airport in New York City, and partly as a result became owner of the world's first airline lounge at the new LaGuardia Airport (LGA), which became known as the Admirals Club. Membership was initially by invitation 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 launched an international subsidiary, American Overseas Airlines, to serve Europe; AOA was sold to Pan Am in 1950. AA launched another subsidiary, Líneas Aéreas Americanas de Mexico S.A., to fly to Mexico and built several airports there. American Airlines provided advertising and free usage of its aircraft in the 1951 film Three Guys Named Mike.[1]
American Airlines introduced the first transcontinental jet service using Boeing 707s on January 25, 1959. With its Astrojets, as it dubbed the jet fleet, American shifted to nonstop coast-to-coast flights, although it maintained feeder connections to cities along its old route using smaller Convair 990s and Lockheed Electras. American invested $440 million in jet aircraft up to 1962, launched the first electronic booking system (Sabre) with IBM, and built an upgraded terminal at Idlewild (now JFK) Airport in New York City which became the airline's largest base.[1]
From 1971–1978 Beverly Lynn Burns worked as a stewardess for AA. She went on to become the first woman Boeing 747 airline captain.Template:Citation needed
In 1975 American Airlines was headquartered at 633 Third Avenue in the Murray Hill area of Midtown Manhattan, New York City.[1][1] 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 "betrayal" of New York City.[1] American moved to two leased office buildings in Grand Prairie, Texas.[1]
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.
The airline finished moving into a $150 million (1983 dollars), Template:Convert 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.[1]
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 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.[1] 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. Template:Citation needed
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.
TWA merger, 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)[1][1][1] 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. All were furloughed, and most remain on furlough. The senior TWA captains were integrated at the same seniority level as AA captains hired years later.Template:Citation needed 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. However, TWA pilots were given super-seniority and a 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 relative seniority; though, some left St Louis and flew in the co-pilot seat next to AA pilots who may have been hired at a later date, but are more senior outside the protections afforded to that base. 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. 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 some of its planes were involved). 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. The St Louis hub was also downsized.
American 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.[1]
On July 2, 2008, American announced furloughs of up to 950 flight attendants, via Texas' Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act system.[1] This furlough is in addition to the furlough of 20 MD-80 aircraft.[1] 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.[1]
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.[1]
On June 26, 2009, rumors of a merger with US Airways resurfaced to much speculation within the online aviation community.[1]
In August 2009, American was placed under credit watch, along with United Airlines and US Airways. Template:Citation needed
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.[1]
MD-80 Maintenance Controversies and Consequences
American Airlines has had repeated run-ins with the FAA regarding maintenance of its MD-80 fleet; 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.[1] 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 (Y1) is available.
In September 2009, the Associated Press and Wall Street Journal reported that American was accused of repeated maintenance lapses, and attempts to hide the lapses, from the FAA. These involving at least 16 MD-80s. 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.[1][1]
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 Airlines announced in May that it expected to retire 40 to 45 mainline aircraft in fall 2008, the majority fuel-inefficient MD-80s but also some Airbus A300s. American's regional airline, American Eagle Airlines, will retire 35 to 40 regional jets as well as its Saab turboprop fleet.
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.[1] AMR is not the only company planning to buy a stake in the airline but rival airline, 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.[1] 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.[1]
Slogans
- Current - "We know why you fly."
- 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."
- Mid 1990s - "Based Here. Best Here."
- Late 1980s - "No other Airline gives you more of America, than American."
- Mid 1980s-mid 1990s - "Something special in the air." (Variant used for website: "Something special online.", Spanish variant: "Todo es especial, tu eres especial.")
- 1982-late 1980s - "En American, tenemos lo que tu buscas." (Spanish slogan, translated loosely to "At American, we've got what you're looking for").
- 1980s-1988- "The On-Time Machine."
- 1970s-1980s - "We're American Airlines, doing what we do best."
- Early 1970s - "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 (domestic) Airline."
Destinations
Template:See American Airlines serves four continents. Hubs at Dallas/Fort Worth and Miami serve as gateways to the Americas, while American's Chicago hub has become the airline's primary gateway to Europe and Asia. New York Kennedy (JFK) is a primary gateway for both the Americas and Europe, while New York La Guardia (LGA) is a regional hub. Lambert-St. Louis International Airport has served as a regional as well for several years. However, the airline's 2009 restructuring will lead to the airport being removed as a hub in the summer of 2010.[1] American serves the second largest number of international destinations, second to Continental Airlines.
American is the only U.S. airline with scheduled flights to Anguilla, Bolivia, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Uruguay.
American has begun to expand in Asia, with mixed success. In 2005, American re-introduced a non-stop flight from Dallas/Fort Worth to Osaka-Kansai, which has since been discontinued. American also launched non-stop service from Chicago to Nagoya-Centrair, but that too ended within a year. Also in 2005, American launched service from Chicago to Delhi.[1] In April 2006, American began service from Chicago to Shanghai, also profitably. However, in October 2006, American ceased its San Jose, California to Tokyo-Narita service, leaving LAX as American's sole international gateways on the West Coast. American planned flights between Dallas/Fort Worth and Beijing via Chicago-O'Hare (on Westbound only) in 2007 but lost its bid to United Airlines' Dulles to Beijing route. AA was granted permission in September 2007 to start a Chicago-Beijing route in a new set of China routes in 2009,[1] but currently plans to begin service April 4, 2010.[1] American Airlines delayed the launched of the new China route from April 4 to May 1, 2010.[1]
Fleet
As of October 2009, the American Airlines fleet consists of 603 aircraft.[1]
In August 2007 the airline announced it would offer Wi-fi internet services on Boeing 767-200ER flights across the United States.[1] On August 20, 2008, American Airlines became the first to offer full inflight internet service.[1]
In October 2008, American announced plans to order the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.[1]
American is the largest operator of the McDonnell Douglas MD-80, with some 300 of the type. As part of its fleet renewal plan, American is replacing one-fourth of its MD-80s with the Boeing 737-800, which offers a 35 percent increase per-seat mileage.[1] The rest will eventually be replaced by Boeing's next generation narrow body aircraft, the Boeing Y1, which may not be until 2020 or later. American Airlines has stated that they have MD-80 leases running until as late as 2024.
In August 2009, American officially retired its fleet of Airbus A300 aircraft, after 21 years of service. American has not made plans to replace this fleet.
Current
American Airlines had an average fleet age of 15.6 years in August 2009.[1]
| Aircraft | In Service | Orders | Purchase Rights | Passengers (First/Business/Economy) | Routes | IFE | Introduction | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 737-800 | 96 | 76 | 0 | Old Configuration: 148 (16/132) New Configuration: 160 (16/144) | North American short-medium haul, Caribbean, Mexico, South America(Venezuela) Most fly out of MIA, ORD, DFW, SJU and LAX | Overhead monitors, audio | 1999 | The oldest MD-82s and MD-83s are being replaced with 737-800s. The rest will be replaced with Boeing's 737 replacement (Y1) |
| Boeing 757-200 | 124 | 0 | 0 | 190 (24/166) 188 (22/166) 182 (16/166) | Domestic, Caribbean, South America, Hawaii, Europe Most fly out of MIA and DFW | Overhead monitors, audio | 1989 | All fitted with winglets To be fitted with new interiors 18 to be modified to an international version |
| Boeing 767-200ER | 15 | 0 | 0 | 159 (10/30/119) | MIA to JFK, LAX and SFO JFK to LAX and SFO EWR to LAX | Personal media player offered in First and Business Class on transcontinental flights Overhead monitors and audio system in all classes | 1986 | All 15 aircraft are fitted with three classes and operate flagship service on transcontinental routes. |
| Boeing 767-300ER | 58 | 0 | 0 | 225 (30/195) | Transatlantic, South America Hawaii, hub to hub domestic | Personal DVD Player offered in Business Class, Overhead monitors in Economy, audio in both classes | 1988 | 5 fitted with winglets[1] To be fitted with winglets[1] Fitted with New Business Class. |
| Boeing 777-200ER | 47 | 7[1] | 0 | 247 (16/37/194) | Transatlantic, transpacific, South America MIA-LAX, DFW-ORD, DFW-MIA (begins December 2009) | AVOD, Audio | 1999 | Fitted with Flagship Suites Fitted with New Business Class Fitted with AVOD in First/Business Class Fitted with AVOD in Economy class |
| Boeing 787-9 | 0 | 42 (see note) | 58 | TBD | Long haul | TBD | 2013 (see note) | Boeing has confirmed that the 787-9 will not enter service before 2013[1] and AA forecasts that the first aircraft will be delivered in late 2013.[1] |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | 184 | 0 | 0 | 136 (16/120) 140 (16/124) | Short, Medium Haul Domestic, Mexico and Canada Most fly out of ORD, STL, and DFW | None | 1983 | Largest operator of the MD-82 Oldest being replaced by: Boeing 737-800 The rest will be replaced with Boeing's 737 replacement (Y1) |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | 81 | 0 | 0 | 136 (16/120) 140 (16/124) | Short, medium haul domestic, Mexico and Canada Most fly out of ORD, STL, DFW, and BOS | None | 1987 | Largest operator of the MD-83 Oldest being replaced by: Boeing 737-800 The rest will be replaced with Boeing's 737 replacement (Y1) |
| Total | 605 | 125 | 58 |
*Aircell Internet Broadband access is being installed on all Boeing 767-200 and Boeing 737-800 aircraft.[1] </center>
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Historical fleet types
| 1930s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ford 5-AT 1930–1935 | DC-3 1936–1949 | BAC 111 1965–1972 | McDonnell Douglas MD-80 1979 - [Present] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Curtiss Condor 1934 - [Present] | Lockheed L-188 Electra 1958–1970 | 737 & BAe 146 1987–1992 | Fokker 100 1992–2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fairchild 100 1931 - [Present] | Convair 240 1948–1964 | Boeing 727 1964–2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| DC-6 1947–1966 | Airbus A300 1988–2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| DC-4 1946–1953 | DC-7 1953–1959 | Boeing 707 1959–1981 | Boeing 757 1989 - [Present] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| C-990 1962–1969 | Boeing 737NG 1999 - [Present] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| B-377 1946–1950 | Boeing 747-100 1970–1989 | Boeing 747SP 1986–1994 | Boeing 777 1999 - [Present] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| McDonnell Douglas DC-10 1971–2000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boeing 767 1982 - [Present] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MD-11 1991–2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes:
- Boeing 377s served in American Overseas Airways transatlantic service and were acquired by Pan American World Airways.
- Most Boeing 747-100s were retired from passenger service in the late 1970s and served as freighters until their final retirement in 1985. Several were retired earlier; NASA acquired one of the early retired aircraft, N905NA, in 1974 and has since used it as a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Early in its NASA career, the aircraft continued to carry the American Airlines tricolor cheatline.
- American briefly operated one Boeing 747-200 freighter (serial number 20653) in 1984.[1]
- Boeing 737 and BAe 146 aircraft operated between 1987 and 1992 were acquired with the assets of Air California and primarily operated from AA's hub at San Jose International Airport. Eight 737-300s that were once operated by American Airlines are now operated by Southwest Airlines.
- In addition to original run MD-80 series aircraft, American also operated Boeing 717 aircraft acquired from Trans World Airlines between 2001 and 2003.[1] American also briefly owned several MD-87s and five MD-90s acquired from Reno Air.[1]
AAdvantage
AAdvantage is the frequent flyer program of American Airlines. Launched May 1, 1981, it was the first such loyalty program in the world, and remains the largest with more than 50 million members as of 2005.[1]
Miles accumulated in the program allow members to redeem tickets, upgrade service class, or obtain free or discounted car rentals, hotel stays, merchandise, or other products and services through partners. The most active members, based on the amount and price of travel booked, are designated AAdvantage Gold, AAdvantage Platinum, and AAdvantage Executive Platinum elite members, with privileges such as separate check-in, priority upgrade and standby processing, or free upgrades. They also receive similar privileges from AA's partner airlines, particularly those in Oneworld.[1]
History
Increased competition following the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act prompted airline marketing professionals to develop ways to reward repeat customers and build brand loyalty. The first idea at American, a special "loyalty fare", was modified and expanded to offer free first class tickets and upgrades to first class for companions, or discounted coach tickets. Membership was seeded by searching AA's SABRE computer reservations system for recurring phone numbers. The 130,000 most frequent flyers, plus an additional 60,000 members of AA's Admirals Club were pre-enrolled and sent letters with their new account numbers. The name was selected by AA's advertising agency, and is consistent with other American Airlines programs featuring "AA" in the name and logo. The logo was designed by Massimo Vignelli.[1]
Less than a week later, rival United Airlines launched its Mileage Plus program; other airlines followed in the ensuing months and years. The rapid appearance of competition changed the nature of the program, and as airlines began to compete on the features of their frequent flyer programs, AAdvantage liberalized its rules, established partnerships with hotel and rental car agencies, and offered promotions such as extra free beverages. In 1982 AAdvantage also became the first program to cooperate with an international carrier; members could accrue and redeem miles on British Airways flights to Europe.Template:Citation needed
In 2005 American Airlines joined other major US carriers in introducing an online shopping portal allowing shoppers to earn AAdvantage miles when shopping online.
Partnerships
In addition to its Oneworld, American Connection, and American Eagle partnerships, American Airlines offers frequent flier partnerships with the following airlines and railways:[1]
Airlines
Railways
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