American Airlines 1997 Annual Report Download - page 20

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18
With the American-British Airways partnership on hold,
we focused on finalizing agreements with other alliance part-
ners. During the year, we concluded a codesharing and
frequent flyer alliance with Iberia, which is linked to a code-
sharing partnership and an investment in Aerolineas
Argentinas, in which Iberia has an ownership interest.
In addition to the Aerolineas Argentinas deal, American
announced alliances with LanChile and Aero California of
Mexico. We also gained tentative regulatory approval for our
partnership with the TACA Group, which serves Central
America, and final approval of our agreement with TAM,
which serves Brazil and Paraguay.
To bolster our service to the Pacific, we implemented an
agreement with China Airlines of Taiwan, and have pending
agreements with the Korean carrier Asiana, China Eastern,
and Philippine Airlines.
In February, thanks in part to a new bilateral agreement
with Japan, we also announced a major codesharing partner-
ship with Japan Airlines, that country’s leading carrier.
Service Quality
Of all American’s strengths, none is more important than our
hard-earned, longstanding reputation for quality service.
During 1997, we took a number of steps to protect and
enhance that reputation.
One element of quality on which we worked especially
hard during 1997 was improving on-time dependability. By
In 1997, every single
flight from Milan depart-
ed on time, thanks to
Passenger Services Sup-
ervisor Lilia Bernacchi
and her teammates. In
the United States, we
also performed well:
American ranked first in
domestic on-time per-
formance in more
months during the
year than any other
major hub- and-
spoke U.S. airline.