American Airlines and its two regional affiliates, American Eagle and AmericanConnection, make up one of the world's largest airlines, providing service to more than 250 cities in approximately 50 countries throughout North America, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe and Asia. American has hubs in three major U.S. markets: Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago and Miami, and a sizable presence in both New York City and Los Angeles. Together, those five cities make up American's Cornerstone Strategy, which has streamlined American's route network and resulted in the vast majority of American flights either going into or out of those key markets.

American Airlines was formed in 1934, but the company traces its roots back to the 1920s when several aviation companies were consolidated to form what would become American Airlines. American was the first major airline to hire a woman pilot in 1973 and to have a female captain in 1986. In 2001, the Fort Worth, Texas-headquartered company acquired all of the assets of Trans World Airlines. American declared bankruptcy in November 2011, but continued to fly scheduled service while it worked to reduce its costs with the intent of emerging as a more competitive airline.

Class of Service

American offers their premium Flagship Service on key long-haul intercontinental and transcontinental routes. The following inflight service is offered on these flights:

International First Class

First class passengers receive expedited check-in, security screening (where available), boarding privileges and lounge access when traveling internationally or on a full fare transcontinental ticket. International passengers may use the London-Heathrow Arrivals Lounge as well. Additionally, all First class passengers receive noise canceling headphones for use on the aircraft and an amenity kit. The Flagship Suite is featured on its Boeing 777s, which includes six foot six inch-fully lie-flat seats, privacy dividers and swivel seating.

Business Class

Business Class passengers receive expedited check-in, security screening (where available), boarding privileges and access to the Admirals Club Lounge when traveling on an international flight or on a nonstop, three-class transcontinental flight. International passengers may also use the London-Heathrow Arrivals Lounge. Additionally, Business Class passengers enjoy additional legroom, noise-canceling headphones and on many international flights, amenity kits. Many aircraft flying international routes are outfitted with angled lie-flat seats and privacy dividers.

Economy Class

Passengers enjoy complimentary non-alcoholic beverages and meals on most flights, as well as audio and video entertainment.

American also offers a two-cabin service across their domestic US and short-haul international routes, primarily in the Caribbean, North America, Central America and northern South America. On these flights, the front cabin offers 45" of seat pitch and complimentary meals and alcoholic beverages, as well as a more personalized in-flight service.

Food and Drink

American provides complimentary non-alcoholic beverages on its flights. It also sells boxed-meal options on select flights over 3 hours in duration and snacks on select flights over two hours in duration. On long-haul international flights operating within a traditional meal time, complimentary meal services is offered in all classes. Complimentary meal service is offered in First and Business Class on all flights over one hour and 45 minutes that operate within a traditional meal time.

Entertainment

Most short-haul flights (other than those on regional jets and MD-80 aircraft) offer in-flight entertainment on shared monitors, with audio programming at every seat. Long-haul flights on B777 aircraft offer personal seat-back entertainment with a wide variety of movies, TV and short subject programming. Passengers traveling in premium cabins on aircraft without seat-back video are given personal media players pre-loaded with up to 28 feature films and over 15 hours of TV programming.

American is also rolling out an in-flight streaming media service which will allow customers to purchase and view content from their WiFi-enabled device. The product is on their B762 aircraft which fly on routes between New York/Los Angeles and New York/San Francisco and is being rolled out to other select fleet types.

In-Flight Technology

On certain domestic flights, passengers may purchase Internet service using GoGo inflight service.

Depending on the aircraft, you will find either AC 110v or cigarette-style DC 15v power outlets, which can be used to power your laptop or personal devices. An adapter is required to connect to the DC style outlets. American is in the process of upgrading its existing B737 and B757 fleet to AC power.

View American Airlines seat maps at SeatGuru.com.

The Fleet

American's fleet includes the following aircraft types*:

B737-800

- American already has over 125 737s in operation today and recently placed a large order for newer 737s.

B757-200

- American uses its 757s on domestic and international routes and is in the process of upgrading its 757 fleet. International configurations of the 757 offer a lie-flat seat in the Business Class cabin.

B767-200

- American's 767-200s are in a three-class configuration and are used primarily on transcontinental flights such as JFK-LAX.

B767-300

- American's 767-300s are in a two-class configuration and are used on both domestic and international routes.

B777-200

- American has more than forty-five active 777-200s, which are in a three-class configuration and are used on long-haul international flights.

MD-80

- The Super80 (as American refers to it) has been the workhorse of American's domestic fleet but is slowly being phased out.

RJs

(commuter fleet) - American's regional jets include Embraer 140s, Embraer 145s and CRJ-700s, which serve short-haul markets where flight times are less than two or three hours in duration.

*Please note that American often has several configurations of a specific aircraft type, so please check SeatGuru for seat map information and recommendations on the best seats for your flight.

Partner Airlines

American is a founding member of the oneworld alliance, which includes the following airlines:

• British Airways
• LAN Airlines
• Cathay Pacific Airways
• Malév Hungarian Airlines
• Dragonair
• Qantas Airways
• Finnair
• Royal Jordanian
• Iberia
• S7 Airlines
• JAL

Additionally, American codeshares with many other airlines, including the following:

• Airberlin
• Gulf Air
• Alaska Airlines
• Hawaiian Airlines
• El Al
• Kingfisher Airlines
• EVA Air
• WestJet
• Etihad Airways

Customer Loyalty Program

AAdvantage is American's frequent flyer loyalty program.

• You can earn miles by flying American Airlines, American Eagle, AmericanConnection, oneworld alliance airlines and codeshare partners.

· Miles can also be accrued by purchasing products or services from numerous participating hotel, car and retail partners and by using the Citi®/AAdvantage® card.

• Miles can be redeemed for travel and other awards.

• Points do not expire if you fly American or redeem miles at least once during an 18-month period.
• Membership levels are Gold, Platinum and Executive Platinum. These membership levels are attained by flying 25,000, 50,000 and 100,000 miles or 30, 60 and 100 segments, respectively, on qualifying flights in one calendar year.
• Perks for Gold, Platinum and Executive Platinum members include priority on the waitlist, upgrade privileges and mileage bonuses.
• Gold members receive oneworld Ruby status when traveling with oneworld partners.
• Platinum members are recognized as having oneworld Sapphire status when traveling with oneworld partners and have access to the Business Class and Frequent Flyer Lounges across the oneworld network when traveling on international itineraries.
• Executive Platinum members receive oneworld Emerald status when traveling with oneworld partners and have access to the First Class, Business Class and Frequent Flyer Lounges across the oneworld network when traveling internationally.
• You can buy, give and transfer miles for a fee.