American Airlines

American Airlines is the world’s largest airline by fleet size. It operates the largest commercial fleet in the world, comprising 970 aircraft from both Boeing and Airbus, with an additional 17 planned or on order (source: planespotters.net).

American, together with its regional partners and affiliates, operates an extensive international and domestic network with almost 6,800 flights per day to nearly 350 destinations in 48 countries. The airline is a founding member of the Oneworld alliance. Regional service is operated by independent and subsidiary carriers under the brand name American Eagle.

American Airlines was started in 1930 and developed over the years out of the union or merger of some 85 companies. Two nucleate companies were Robertson Aircraft Corporation and Colonial Air Transport. Robertson Aircraft, first organized in 1921 in Missouri as a general flying service and manufacturer, flew its first mail route on April 15, 1926, Charles Lindbergh flew the first American Airlines flight – carrying U.S. mail from St. Louis, Missouri, to Chicago, Illinois. After 8 years of mail routes, the airline began to form into what it is today. American founder C.R. Smith worked with Donald Douglas to create the DC-3; a plane that changed the entire airline industry, switching revenue sources from mail to passengers.

In turn, this Aviation Corporation was made in 1930 into an operating company and rebranded as American Airways. In 1934, when new laws and attrition of mail contracts forced many airlines to reorganize, the corporation redid its routes into a connected system and was renamed American Airlines.

In the late 1950s, American Airlines opened the “Stewardess College” in Dallas, now their largest hub. The Stewardess College was for flight attendant training. It was the first official flight attendant training facility in the world.

Between 1970 and 2000, the company grew into an international carrier, purchasing Trans World Airlines in 2001.

In 2008 American Airlines became the first airline to offer full in-flight Internet access in the United States on its Boeing 767-200 aircraft. In 2009 it became the first major airline to partner with the Environmental Protection Agency to develop environmentally friendly business strategies. However, American Airlines continued to struggle financially, and in 2011 the carrier and AMR Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In early 2013 American Airlines agreed to merge with US Airways but kept the American Airlines name, as it was the better-recognized brand internationally; the combination of the two airlines resulted in the creation of the largest airline in the United States, and ultimately the world.

In 2022, American Airlines becomes the first airline globally to receive validation from the Science Based Targets initiative for its 2035 greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.

Air Transport World magazine names American Airlines its 2023 Eco-Airline of the Year.