American Airlines

  About American Airlines

American Airlines Inc. is one of the major American airlines with its headquarters located in Fort Worth, Texas. It is within the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. It is recognised to be the world's largest airline with respect to fleet size. Passengers carried on scheduled, revenge earned on passenger mile, to name a few. American Airlines, along with its regional partners, have been documented to operate about 6,800 flights per day on domestic and international routes. They have reached 350 destinations in more than 50 countries around the world. The airline is one of the founding members of the Oneworld alliance, which is the third-largest airline alliance recognised in the world. Some of the regional services operated under the subsidiary carriers, go by the brand name American Eagle. It is an independent carrier and reaches some of the cities of North America. Dallas/Fort Worth is the largest hub for both, American Airlines and American Eagle for operations. Aside from the Texas city, there are ten more hubs for the airlines to operate from.

Dallas/Fort Worth has the capacity to handle about 200 million passengers in a year. The average passenger traffic on a daily basis is recorded to be more than 500,000. Further, the company is also known to employ over 130,000 staff, as recorded in 2019. American Airlines' AA logo was curated by Goodrich Murphy in 1931. Decades later, the logo was redesigned in 1967 by Massimo Vignelli. American Airlines' earlier liveries were widely diverse. However, a common livery was adopted in the 1930s. The livery featured an eagle painted on the fuselage with the eagle becoming a symbol that further inspired the subsidiary's name, American Eagle Airlines. Eventually, the airlines rebranded and let the employees decide the design for the new livery. Two options were posted by the American Airlines' employees on their website, one with the old one and the other with a modified version of the same. All the American Airlines Group employees were allowed to vote to pick the livery. Eventually, the airlines decided to keep the new look for the livery. The latest design features an abstract American flag painted on the tail with a silver-painted fuselage that is a throwback to the old livery.

In 2019, American Airlines turned into a heritage aircraft with US Airways, Piedmont, Reno Air, TWA, AirCal, America West, as part of their fleet. American Airlines is listed through the parent company, American Airlines Group Inc., under NASDAQ. The company's market capitalisation stands at USD12 billion, as of 2019.

Fleet size of American Airlines

According to 2020's records, American Airlines is known to operate the largest commercial fleet comprising of 870 aircraft. They mainly have Boeing and Airbus. The airline has over 80 per cent of narrow-body aircraft. The fleet mainly comprises of Airbus A320 series as well as Boeing 737-800. American Airlines is the largest A320 series aircraft operator in the world. It is also the largest operator with respect to A319 and A321 variant aircraft. Further on the same, it is the fourth-largest operator of the Boeing 737 family aircraft as well as the second-largest operator of the 737-800 variant. In terms of wide-body aircraft, American Airlines' fleet has an amalgam of Boeing and Airbus airliners. American Airlines is known to be the third-largest operator of the Boeing 787 series as well as sixth-largest operator in the world for the Boeing 777 series. Out of all the aircraft that are operated under American Airlines, Airbus A330 aircraft has retired. Along with the same, Boeing 787 aircraft is also inching towards retirement.

In the 2000s, American Airlines continued to order Boeing aircraft exclusively. However, from 2011, the airlines changed its strategy of ordering Boeing aircraft. Instead, they started combining their aircraft order with 460 narrow-body jets that included 260 Airbus 320 series. Additionally, the airlines also brought Airbus to join the fleet in 2013, following the merger with US Airways. It is known that US Airways exclusively operated Airbus aircraft. However, with the merger, American Airlines also received rights to add Airbus to their fleet and enable operations of the flight under their banner.

American Airline's Baggage Allowance

First-class - American Airline's baggage allowance policy is quite strict, but depending on the cabin type, the rules change. Passengers travelling in first-class have the luxury of carrying three check-in bags in the aircraft. Out of these, two cabin bags are allowed while a complimentary third is a handbag that could either be a laptop bag or a handbag. There are certain restrictions with respect to the contents of the bag. Some items have been disallowed from being carried in the cabin and should be adhered to.

Business-class - The business class allows two complimentary bags for check-in. For cabin baggage, the passengers are allowed to carry a handbag too, which should not exceed a certain dimension as set by American Airlines' standards. These are mostly allowed on long-haul flights taking international routes. The weight of the check-in bags cannot exceed 32kgs. Additional charges will be levied if the weight is over what has been allowed by the airlines. There are certain items that cannot be carried with you in the check-in as well as cabin baggage. Ensure to read about the same on American Airlines' website.

Premium Economy - For Premium Economy class, the airlines allows two complimentary bags for check-in. However, this rule is excluded for flights going to and from Alaska and Hawaii. International routes and long-haul flights of American Airlines offer baggage deals that can be availed on the airlines' website. You can exceed the weight and number of bags but provided you pay an additional sum.

Main Cabin - Two check-in bags are allowed for Main Cabin with additional carryon baggage for the cabin. The weight is the same with first class and business class, with the option of altering their baggage weight and other features. Along with the baggage, the airlines also allows passengers to carry special equipment baggage, including the ones with sports and musical instruments as well as assistive devices for mobility disabled passengers.

American Airline's In-flight services

Flagship first - Flagship first is American Airlines' international First Class cabin. The in-flight services offered in the cabin are exceptional as they offer seats that can be converted to fully flat-beds. There is direct aisle access with a herringbone configuration of 1-2-1. Other premium benefits of American Airline's in-flight services are wider options with respect to food and beverages, larger seats, amenities such as WiFi, power plug points and more. You can ask for blankets and enjoy the magnificent hospitality that is available in the cabin. The crew is also quite friendly and accommodating with special reservations for privacy.

Flagship business - Flagship business is the airline's premium business class cabin that is available on all Airbus A330-200s, Boeing 787-8s, Boeing 777-200ERs, Boeing 787-9s and Boeing 777-300ERs. The seats are comfortable and can be extended to fully lie-flat. The food and beverages are complimentary with an array of options. You can also request for pillows and blankets while you enjoy the cabin's privacy. Plus, they have personalised entertainment decks also for the passengers.

Premium economy - Earlier in 2015, the airlines announced Premium Economy as part of its long-haul wide-body aircraft. The cabin sees an upgrade from the main cabin and is available on most of the Boeing flights that function under the American Airlines wing. The cabin is available on Boeing 777-200s, Boeing 787-9s, Boeing 787-8s, Boeing 777-300s and also Airbus A330-200s. The seats in the premium economy are wider in comparison to the ones in the main cabin. Along with this, the cabin also has several interesting facilities. American Airlines' in-flight services in Premium Economy include enhanced good and drink services. This also includes free alcohol services. There are extensive power supply plugs for laptops, mobile phones, tablets and more.

Main cabin - The main cabin in American Airlines is the economy class. The cabin is available on all mainline as well as regional aircraft of American Airlines' fleets. The economy class boasts increased legroom with less ticket prices. The in-flight services include recliner seats that have about 30 inches of legroom. Long-haul flights also have complimentary food and beverages. You can request for a blanket, pillow, headphones and more.

Popular routes and top cities for American Airlines

Over the years, American Airlines has expanded its horizons to not just cater to domestic routes but also international routes. As of 2020, the airline accommodates flights to connect to about 95 domestic destinations, 95 international destinations in 55 countries sprawled across five continents. Further, on the same, the airline plans to launch flights to Casablanca from Philadelphia. Cities such as New York-JFK, London, Sydney, Vancouver, Toronto, Beijing, Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Delhi, Dublin, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Auckland, Seoul, Los Angeles and San Francisco, are well-connected, thanks to American Airlines.

Why travel by American Airlines?

American Airlines has an up-to-date website with all the necessary information regarding flights schedules, web check-ins, flight status, etc. You can also book an American Airlines flight online and upgrade the ticket to premium economy or business class. The airline has the best in-flight services plus impeccable connectivity and hence, should be considered.