American Airlines 1999 Annual Report Download - page 18

service is a responsibility shared by every member of
the team. However, company leaders must set the
tone by designing and implementing policies that
help make American and Eagle the employers of
choice in the airline industry. Listening to employees
is the first step. In 1998, a company-wide Employee
Opinion Survey brought to light numerous areas of
employee concern. A more limited follow-up survey
in 1999 indicated that
progress has been made
in some important areas.
While there is room for
improvement, a number
of 1999 initiatives bode
well for progress in 2000
and beyond.
These initiatives are
embodied in our People
Plan, which is designed to help us hire the best
people; give them compelling reasons to stay at
American — such as good pay and benefits and
opportunities to grow; provide a Human Resources
infrastructure that can effectively deliver employee
support services; and develop a world-class leader-
ship team to support them, hold them accountable
for a high level of performance and help them
achieve individual goals.
American Airlines and American Eagle have
both placed a strategic importance on people devel-
opment and people management skills in selecting
and promoting the carriers’ leadership teams. Both
American and Eagle have introduced a new 360-
degree performance appraisal tool for managers.
Feedback comes not just from a manager’s boss,
but also from employees he or she comes in contact
with on a regular basis.
This feedback has been insightful and valuable to
the entire management team. But just as important,
developing the appraisal tool provided an occasion to
define, in explicit terms, the principles that are the
foundation for leadership behavior at American and
American Eagle. The leadership principles — which
embrace various attributes of business management
and leadership style — represent the standard against
which every manager’s performance will be measured
and rewarded in the years to come.
A notable 1999 success was the creation of
Interaction Teams. Composed of agents from the
Customer Services, Reservations and Cargo divisions
of American Airlines, these teams held round-table
discussions on issues facing their work groups and
developed a list of potential solutions. Then they
16
F-100
Manufacturer: Fokker
(Netherlands)
Number in Fleet: 75
Number of Seats: 97
1972 1973 1974 1975 1976
Six years after its
freighters began flying
U.S. equipment and
then troops to and from
Vietnam, American
begins phasing out its
MAC charters.
C.R. Smith, at the age
of 74, comes out of
retirement for six
months to re-energize
the airline.
Directors elect Albert V.
Casey, of the Times
Mirror Corp., president,
chairman and CEO.
Beating other airlines to
the punch, a sales team
begins marketing Sabre
computer services to the
nation’s travel agents.
The nation’s Bicentennial
prompts a series of television
specials titled The American
Experience, with newsman
Chet Huntley as narrator and
American spokesman.
About 125 million
bags are processed
every year by our
baggage handlers.