American Airlines

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American Airlines (under parent holding company AMR Corporation) is the largest airline in the U.S., the second being UAL's United Airlines. American Airlines along with sister company American Eagle and a network of regional carriers has 250 destinations in about 40 countries. It also carries air freight including mail. It is part of the Oneworld global marketing alliance which includes British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas. Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas the company was founded in 1934. [1] [2]

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Overview

The following is from Yahoo! MultexInvestor.com.

"Incorporated in October 1982, AMR has operations that fall almost entirely in the airline industry. AMR's principal subsidiary, American Airlines, Inc., was founded in 1934. In April 2001, American Airlines, Inc. purchased substantially all of the assets and assumed certain liabilities of Trans World Airlines, Inc. (TWA). At the end of 2001, American (which includes TWA and American Airlines) provided scheduled jet service to more than 161 destinations throughout North America, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe and the Pacific. American is also a scheduled air freight carrier, providing a full range of freight and mail services to shippers throughout its system.

"AMR Eagle Holding Corporation (AMR Eagle), a wholly owned subsidiary of AMR, owns two regional airlines that do business as American Eagle, American Eagle Airlines, Inc. and Executive Airlines, Inc. (Executive). These two American Eagle carriers provide connecting service from eight of American's high-traffic cities to smaller markets throughout the United States, Canada, the Bahamas and the Caribbean.

"AMR Investment Services, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of AMR, is responsible for the investment and oversight of AMR's defined benefit and defined contribution plans, as well as its short-term investments. It serves as manager of the American AAdvantage Funds, a family of mutual funds with both institutional and retail shareholders, and provides customized fixed income portfolio management services. As of December 31, 2001, AMR Investment Services was responsible for management of approximately $29.9 billion in assets, including direct management of approximately $17.8 billion in short-term fixed-income investments.

"The Company was able to operate only a portion of its scheduled flights for several days after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. When flights were permitted to resume, passenger traffic and yields on the Company's flights were significantly lower than prior to the attacks. As a result, the Company reduced its operating schedule to approximately 80% of the schedule it flew prior to September 11, 2001.

"On November 12, 2001, American Airlines Flight 587 crashed shortly after take-off from John F. Kennedy International Airport en route to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. In addition to the loss of life on board the aircraft, there were several fatalities and injuries to persons on the ground, as well as property damage. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the accident; a cause has yet to be determined. As a result of the accident, claims have been made against American. It is anticipated these claims will be covered under American's insurance policies.

"Most major air carriers have developed hub-and-spoke systems and schedule patterns in an effort to maximize the revenue potential of their service. American operates five hubs: Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), Chicago O'Hare, Miami, St. Louis and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Delta Air Lines (Delta) and United Airlines also have hub operations at DFW and Chicago O'Hare, respectively.

"The American Eagle carriers increase the number of markets the Company serves by providing connections to American at American's hubs and certain other major airports. The American Eagle carriers serve smaller markets through Boston, DFW, Chicago, Miami, San Juan, Los Angeles and New York's LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy International Airports.

"In addition to its domestic service, the Company provides international service to the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Canada, Latin America, Europe and the Pacific. The Company's operating revenues from foreign operations were approximately 28% of the Company's total operating revenues in 2001.

"To improve access to each other's markets, various United States and foreign air carriers, including American, have established marketing relationships with other airlines and rail companies. American has code-sharing programs with Aer Lingus, Air Pacific, Alaska Airlines, Asiana Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, EVA Air, Finnair, Gulf Air, Hawaiian Airlines, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LanChile, LOT Polish Airlines, Qantas Airways, SNCF, TACA Group, the TAM Group, TAP Air Portugal, Thalys and Turkish Airlines. American Eagle also has code-sharing programs with Continental Airlines, Delta, Midwest Express and Northwest Airlines, in addition to code-sharing with some of American's codeshare partners.

"In February 1999, American, British Airways, Canadian Airlines International Limited, Cathay Pacific Airways and Qantas Airways formed the global alliance ONEworld. In September 1999, Finnair and Iberia joined these five founding members. Also, in June 2000, Aer Lingus and LanChile joined the ONEworld alliance. Following the acquisition of Canadian by Air Canada, Canadian terminated its membership in ONEworld in June 2000. The ONEworld alliance links the networks of the member carriers to enhance customer service and smooth connections to the destinations served by the alliance, including linking the carriers' frequent flyer programs and access to the carriers' airport lounge facilities.

"On most of its domestic non-stop routes, the Company faces competing service from at least one, and sometimes more than one, major domestic airline, including Alaska Airlines, America West Airlines, Continental Airlines (Continental), Delta, Northwest Airlines (Northwest), Southwest Airlines, United and US Airways, and their affiliated regional carriers."

Political contributions

The American Airlines PAC gave $276,200 to federal candidates in the 2006 election - 28% to Democrats and 72% to Republicans. [3]

Lobbying

The company spent $3,680,136 for lobbying in 2006. In-house lobbyists as well as 14 lobbying firms were used, some of which were Wexler and Walker Public Policy Associates, Cassidy & Associates, Venable, and OB-C Group. [4]

Personnel

Key executives and 2006 pay: [5]          Options
exercised
Gerard J. Arpey, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer    $581,000    $481,000
Thomas W. Horton, Chief Financial Officer    $456,000    $0
Daniel P. Garton, Executive Vice President    $512,000    $706,000
Gary F. Kennedy, Chief Compliance Officer    $472,000    $966,000
Robert W. Reding, Senior Vice President of Technical Operations of American Airlines Inc    $457,000    $997,000

Selected board members: [6]

Officers and Directors from Reuters.

Contact details

4333 Amon Carter Blvd.
Fort Worth, TX 76155
Phone: 817-963-1234
Fax: 817-967-9641
Web: http://www.aa.com

Resources and articles

Related Sourcewatch articles

References

  1. AMR Profile, Hoovers, accessed July 2007.
  2. AMR Profile, Yahoo Finance, accessed July 2007.
  3. 2006 PAC Summary Data, Open Secrets, accessed July 2007.
  4. AMR/American Airlines lobbying expenses, Open Secrets, accessed September 2007.
  5. AMR Key Executives, Yahoo Finance, accessed September 2007.
  6. Board of Directors, AMR, accessed July 2007.