American Airlines

As of July 2013, American Airlines is owned by AMR Corporation, which began bankruptcy proceedings in November 2011.

Aktivs

After merging with US Airways, the new American Airlines becomes the largest air carrier in the world and operates over 6.7 thousand. flights per day in 336 directions in 56 countries of the world. The company is part of the Oneworld aviation alliance (for 2017).

2022: In operation for May - 913 aircraft

Число planes operation in some airlines as of May 26, 2022. For comparison, Aeroflot's indicator in early 2022 is 243 aircraft

History

2019

Introduction of facial recognition system instead of boarding passes

In late August 2019, American Airlines began using facial recognition technology to allow passengers to board the plane without a boarding pass. The airline says the system is perfectly safe and speeds up boarding. However, passengers still require a boarding pass and passport to complete airport security.

By the time the facial recognition system is launched, it is only used in Terminal D at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, but American Airlines plans to implement it in 75 different gates. Anticipating data privacy issues, the carrier said in advance that it did not retain facial images. The scanned images are sent to a cloud database used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and then deleted.

American Airlines starts using facial recognition system instead of boarding passes

An increasing number of airports and airlines are rolling out facial recognition systems, according to the Washington Post. U.S. Customs and Border Protection notes that the technology will eventually be rolled out to all U.S. international airports.

The facial recognition system is used by German airline Lufthansa in Los Angeles, and the airline notes a significant advantage of new technology to allow passengers to board the plane faster. The American company Delta Airlines uses it at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and in addition, the new technology is used at Singapore Changi Airport and London Heathrow Airport.

According to a 2018 trial by Heathrow Airport, facial recognition technology could reduce the length of time it takes to complete all required procedures by around a third. The technology is also used when checking passengers with biometric passports in automated gates.^[1]

Spy cameras in monitors built into seats

In August 2019, the question of spy cameras embedded in the backs of aircraft seats was raised again. Earlier, several airlines, including Singapore Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines, confirmed that surveillance cameras were built into their entertainment systems, prompting widespread public response. Read more here.

How technology helped American Airlines become the world's largest airline

In mid-May 2019, American Airlines human resources department Managing Director Mark Mitchell told Sapphire SAP how technology has helped American Airlines become the world's largest airline.

In 2013, when American Airlines merged with US Airways, a large-scale digital transformation of the American air carrier began. After the merger, Mitchell said, the organization shifted its focus from serving individual operations and customers to creating the pleasant and convenient work environment needed for both customers and employees.

Digital transformation helped American Airlines become the world's largest airline

After the merger, American Airlines became the airline with the largest number of employees in the world - it employs about 130,000 people (by May 2019). The job of the human resources department was to ensure that all employees could do business with the company without problems, so American Airlines tried to create a special working atmosphere. To do this, the human resources department focused on transforming digital technology and business and turned to cloud services.

The airline had to rebuild the existing business model, train employees in the use of new technologies and provide technical support so that all the possibilities of new products for business development were constantly available. According to Mitchell, staff had to change the established mindset when switching to a cloud-based operating model.

American Airlines had a team of trained sysadmins with skills that were traditionally used in the IT field, but when using the cloud service were required to keep the human resources department up and running. The transition to cloud services has changed the responsibilities of system admins, but the company still has over 150 interfaces that need to be supported, operated and updated over time.^[2]

2017: Error in IT system that caused a shortage of pilots in 15 thousand flights

In early December 2017, American Airlines announced a solution to the problem when a malfunction in the IT system left the airline with no pilots for Christmas flights. Staff will be paid bonuses for work during the vacation period.

At the end of November 2017, there were problems in the program that makes up the lists of pilots who receive leave. As a result of incorrect operation of the software, too many crew members were able to go on vacation in the second half of December - a period when the number of flights before the Christmas holidays increases sharply.

American Airlines plane crew

According to estimates by the Allied Pilots Association pilots union, in the period from December 17 to 31, crews of more than 15 thousand flights will be incomplete if the airline does not find a way out of this situation. Flights that this may affect depart from Boston, Washington, New York, Miami, Chicago, Philadelphia and a number of other cities.

American Airlines assured that a failure in the IT system would lead to the absence of pilots on "several hundred flights," but the union pointed to much more serious consequences. American Airlines has found a way out of the situation.

We have pilots in reserve to operate flights in December, and we will pay those pilots who agree to perform flights left without crews, 150% of their hourly rate - so much we can pay under the terms of an employment contract, "said American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller.

The pilots' union filed a complaint, saying the insurance payout was not covered by its contract and that the airline could not guarantee the promised payout. As a result, an agreement was still reached.

We are pleased to announce that the joint efforts of American Airlines and Allied Pilots Association have alleviated this concern by ensuring that our flights will operate as scheduled, the carrier said in a statement.[3]

2013: Merging with US Airways

The first steps to merge with American Airlines were taken by US Airways in April 2012, submitting a request to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In September 2012, the parties announced that they had begun merger talks.

In July 2013, the boards of directors of American Airlines and US Airways approved the terms of the merger, which created the world's largest air carrier.

The combined company has an estimated market value of about $11 billion. The carrier's planes will fly under the American Airlines brand. The new company will still be part of the Oneworld air alliance, of which the AA was a founder. The new American Airlines will operate over 6.7 thousand flights per day in 336 destinations in 56 countries.

The chief executive of the combined carrier will be US Airways Chairman Doug Parker. American Airlines President and CEO Thomas Horton will head the board of directors of the new structure (until the first general meeting of shareholders), and then remain the carrier's representative at Oneworld, where Horton is also chairman of the board.

The post of chairman of the board of directors of the renewed American Airlines after Horton will also go to Parker. In total, the council will include 12 people: three representatives of American Airlines (including Horton), four representatives of US Airways (including Parker), as well as five representatives from AMR creditors.

The deal to merge American Airlines and US Airways must be approved by a court, antitrust and other US regulators. If the deal goes through, then the new carrier is expected to take away the status of the largest in the world from United Continental Holdings. The latter was created in 2010 by the merger of American United Airlines and Continental Airlines.

1979: The Chicago disaster. 273 dead

American Airlines Flight 191 after losing its engine at Chicago O'Hare Airport. All 271 passengers on board, as well as 2 people on the ground, died. May 25, 1979

Links

American Airlines Russian website

Notes