American Airlines 2000 Annual Report Download - page 3

LETT ER T O SHAREH OLDERS, CU STOMERS AND EMPLOYEES
2000 was a year marked by much-
improved financial performance and a
number of strategic initiatives that position
AMR well for success in the years to come.
Excluding special items, the Company’s net
earnings for the year were $752 million –
a result that compares favorably to 1999’s
net earnings of $543 mil lion. Robust
demand for air travel and for air cargo
services, as well as product and service
enhancements, prudent capacity growth
and an effective fuel-hedging program all
helped offset a very dramatic increase in
the price of jet fuel.
Producing superior financial returns
is, of course, fundamental to our goal of
making AMR a very rewarding investment
for our shareholders. But 2000 was a
unique year for our Company, as March
brought the spin-off of our 83 percent
stake in Sabre Holdings Corp. (Sabre).
That transaction gave individual sharehold-
ers the equivalent of a one-time $34.96 per
share dividend, which means that on the
day the transaction took place, AMR share-
holders benefited from a $5.2 billion trans-
fer of market value.
Creating industry-leading outcomes
for our shareholders, customers and
employees is the overarching goal of the
Airline Leadership Plan, the strategic pro-
gram we launched in 1999 that focuses
the Company’s activities on the six areas
that we believe define success for any air-
line: Safety, Service, Product, Technology,
Culture and Network. In 2000, we made
important strides toward industry leader-
ship in all six.
As has been the case throughout
American’s history, Safety is the foundation
of everything we do. One of 2000’s early
highlights took place in January when our
Aviation Safety Action Partnership (ASAP)
program was lauded by President Clinton
as a model to be implemented throughout
the industry. Another important milestone
was the creation of a new organization –
reporting directly to the office of the
Chairman – sharply focused on issues
of safety, security and the environment.
And within that framework, one of the
very significant developments of 2000
was the reorganization of training in the
Flight Department. We are investing more
than $11 million annually to increase the
frequency of recurrent pilot training.
As we seek new ways to improve
upon our already industry-leading safety
programs, it’s no secret that high load
factors – combined with some unusual
weather and an ongoing crisis in our
nation’s air traffic control system – put a
serious strain on our industry’s ability to
deliver the reliable service our customers
deserve and expect. While no carrier can
remedy the inadequacies of the air traffic
control system – nor can we do much
about the weather – we have made some
important structural changes that are
improving our ability to deliver industry-
leading Ser vice. In 2000, we completely
overhauled the American Airlines and
American Eagle schedules at our Chicago
O’Hare and Dallas/Fort Worth connecting
hubs. We also implemented a series
of programs throughout our
Maintenance and Engineer-
ing organization designed
to increase the depend-
ability of our fleet.
These and other efforts
have borne fruit, and
while we – along with
the rest of the industry –
remain somewhat at the
mercy of air traffic con-
trol, we are determined
to preserve American’s
reputation for service
leadership by running
the best, most reliable
operation possible.
Donald J. Carty
Chairman, President and CEO
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