American Airlines 1999 Annual Report Download - page 14

West Coast, American acquired and integrated Reno
Air. This strategic addition offered many more travel
opportunities both for connecting oneworld passen-
gers and for the loyal American customers who
wished to remain on American for business and
pleasure travel throughout the West.
Similarly, American Eagle’s strategic acquisition of
Business Express filled yet another gap in the domestic
system — also without adding new industry capacity
— with service to nine cities in the northeastern United
States. Overall, 1999 growth at Eagle was driven by the
carrier’s continuing shift from turboprop aircraft to
regional jets. By the end of the year, Eagle was using its
fleet of 54 regional jets in nearly 40 markets.
New Eagle destinations translate into more
customers on American Airlines flights, as
passengers in markets too small to justi-
fy large jet service are able to fly Eagle
for the first leg of their trip, then
connect at one of our hubs to an
American Airlines flight to com-
plete their journey.
That same dynamic drives the third
component of the network strategy —
partnering with other carriers. By allying
with carriers who serve markets American
and Eagle cannot — for regulatory, political, or eco-
nomic reasons — we are able to dramatically increase
the destinations offered to our customers. And we can
attract more passengers to the flights we actually fly.
With that in mind, in February 1999, the multilat-
eral oneworld alliance was launched with American,
British Airways, Canadian Airlines, Cathay Pacific and
Qantas — and as the year progressed, Finnair and
Iberia. Lan Chile and Aer Lingus will join in 2000.
The oneworld alliance has dramatically increased
the breadth of service American and Eagle can offer
customers while significantly increasing the number
of passengers connecting to American or Eagle
flights from oneworld carriers. The same can
be said of a number of new bilateral alliances
formed in 1999 with carriers such as Swissair,
Sabena and EVA Airways.
But as important as our network is, the
customer’s first impression of the American
or Eagle product often begins on the
ground. Increasingly, when travelers
step into the company’s terminals, they will
see billions of dollars at work to enlarge,
refresh, rebuild and reinvigorate facilities
around the world. At Miami International
and New York’s JFK airport, work has begun
12
757-200
Manufacturer: Boeing
(USA)
Number in Fleet: 102
Number of Seats: 188
1952 1953 1954 1955 1956
The Magnetic Reservisor
is introduced to help keep
track of seats and book-
ings, just a year before
American and IBM begin
work on Sabre.
The CAB grants nonstop
authority to fly between
Chicago and San
Francisco, allowing
American to stop in
Chicago on New York
to San Francisco trips.
Widely promoted “ Royal
Coachman” flights
expand the market for
economy-class travel on
the new DC-7s.
American introduces the
DC-7, offering nonstop
transcontinental flights
in both directions for
the first time.
The DC-7 boosts
American’s New York to
Los Angeles business by
73 percent in its first
year, sets new transcon-
tinental speed records
and makes sleeper
planes obsolete.
American is the
first airline to
offer DVD in-flight
video players in
premium cabins
between the U.S.
and Europe and
Sout h America.