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American Airlines History

One morning in April, 1926 aviator Charles A. Lindbergh and two other pilots flew a DH-4 airplane from St. Louis, MO. to Chicago, IL. At that time Lindbergh was the chief pilot of Robertson Aircraft Corporation of Missouri, the second aviation company in the U.S. to hold an airmail contract. His company eventually consolidated to form the modern day American Airlines in 1934.

By June of 1935, American was the first airline to fly the Douglas DC-3 in commercial service and by February of 1937, American Airlines carried its one-millionth passenger. During World War II, American turned over half its fleet to the military - Air Transport Command while the remainder of the fleet handled the increase in demand for US air travel. In January of 1959, American became the first airline to offer coast-to coast jet service; they continued to add other jets through the 1960's and 1970's as the older aircraft's retired

After airline deregulation in 1978/1979, American integrated new domestic and Caribbean route service and moved its headquarters from New York to Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas.

In 1984, American introduced the American Eagle system, a network of regional airlines offering service from small communities with connections to American Airlines. By 1987, American had completed an underground facility (secured against fire, earthquakes and other disasters) in Tulsa, Oklahoma to house the SABRE computer equipment. SABRE is now the world's largest private real-time computer network and travel information database. Today, American Airlines is the largest airline carrier in the United States and continues to be the pioneer of the airline industry. Financially, American Airlines has reported a string of successful quarters with record profits and recently avoided a takeover bid from Donald Trump.

Mission and Vision

American Airlines is owned by the parent company AMR Corporation. The corporate vision of American Airlines reads as follows: "We will be the global market leader in air transportation and related information services". American proposes this vision through their mission: "Providing world class service, and setting the industry standard for safety and security". American Airlines believes that trough creating an open and participative work environment which seeks positive change, rewards innovation and provides growth, security and opportunity, (to employees) they may produce superior financial returns for their shareholders.

Goals

The goal of American Airlines and American Eagle is to provide safe and dependable service to the customers, along with a number of related services. They commit to providing safety on behalf of the passengers and employees both in the air and on the ground. As a result, they have developed several initiatives. Some examples are as follows:

* Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) - This is a system that assists pilots in avoiding navigational errors that cause properly functioning airplanes to hit terrain. It alerts pilots when they fly too low, descend too quickly, bank too sharply, or lose altitude after a take off. The GPWS also alerts pilots when the landing gear or wing flaps are in the wrong position. In 1996, American was the first carrier in the world to begin installing the enhanced GPWS on its entire fleet.

* Medical Assistance - As the industry leader, American Airlines was the fist to equip all aircraft with automatic external defibrillator devices. (AED's). State of the art medical kits are also onboard each aircraft. American Airlines also introduced the "SkycAAre" program. This program provides skilled medical companions for those passengers in need of medical attention during their flight. All medical companions are registered nurses. Additionally, American Airlines purchased 75% more oxygen units to meet the increased needs of customers requiring oxygen.

* Cabin Air Quality - With the growing concerns of clean air, American Airlines has implemented measures to control cabin air by providing more oxygen than needed (10 cubic feet per minute) through a mixture of re-circulated fresh air drawn from outside. Additionally, all of American Airlines flights are non-smoking.

Other incentives to provide safe and dependable service include the deicing process (they spend approximately $30 million a year) to clean the wings and control surfaces of the aircraft for safe flying in cold weather. Also there are enhanced restrictions regarding the transportation of articles that may pose a threat to passenger safety such as dry ice and aerosol cans.

Objectives

With the aforementioned vision, mission and goals in mind, American Airlines objective is to achieve value to air transportation while maintaining profitability. Over the past decade the demand for air travel was reduced due to the recession and Gulf was in the early 1990's. More recently, the events of 911, the war in Iraq and rising jet fuel prices led to additional declines in air travel. As a result, advertising objectives were initiated in an effort to promote revenue:

 Maximize satisfaction among American Airlines passengers

 Deliver the message that American Airlines will get the international traveler to a destinations in an uneventful, routine and pleasant way.

 Deliver the message that American Airlines is unique and concentrates on the customer

 Deliver the message that American Airlines is the number one international carrier for the world. This would include being superior in safety, convenience, on-time arrivals, reliable service, individualized treatment, on-board comfort, reliable baggage handling and the effective resolution of problems.

SWOTT Analysis of American Airlines

Strengths * The world's largest airline

* Large channel of distribution ad subsidiaries offices

* Leader of market share in the airlines industry

* Alliance with British Airways enables control of 60% of all flights between the US and the UK

* The heart of almost all innovations (frequent flyer, discount fares etc)

Weaknesses * Financial