American Airlines 1997 Annual Report Download - page 27

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 27 of the 1997 American Airlines annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 76

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76

bookings have burgeoned. The number of Net SAAvers sub-
scribers, who receive weekly E-mail notices of discount fares,
has grown steadily to more than 1.4 million.
Cargo — A Growing Business Beneath the Seats
While carrying passengers is our primary airline function,
cargo is also an important activity. In 1997, American’s Cargo
Division set several records. In August, a strike against United
Parcel Service allowed us to attract new customers and we
sustained that momentum into the fall, carrying more than
500 million cargo ton miles during the third quarter, a new
record. That was followed in October by the division’s biggest
revenue month ever.
Our Latin American markets are particularly important
for cargo. We carried a record amount of cargo to Latin
America during the year, and were given the 1997 Corporate
Leadership Award by the Air Cargo Americas International
Congress in recognition of our contribution to increasing
Latin American trade.
During the year, we also completed a major re-engineer-
ing project at our cargo terminals, which resulted in new
automated systems, better procedural compliance, and much
improved service for our customers.
As we add new Boeing aircraft to the fleet — and in par-
ticular the 757s, 767s, and 777s — we expect our cargo
business, both freight and mail, to continue to grow in the
years ahead.
25
Even with record rev-
enue and traffic increas-
es in 1997, American
Airlines Cargo improved
service quality thanks to
employee commitment
and teamwork. That
includes DFW Cargo
clerk Ray Barrera, who
has handled cargo for
24 of his 26 years at
American, and
hasn’t missed
a day of work
since 1984.