Something you might be interested in about American Airlines ...
American Airlines is the world's largest airline, and flies to all kinds of amazing destinations.
All about American Airlines
American Airlines is one of the best-known, and biggest, airlines in the entire world. Chances are, if you're a frequent flyer, you'll have flown American at some point in your life. They operate somewhere in the range of 6,700 flights every single day! Those flights can take you to 50 different countries and nearly 350 different destinations.
American Airlines is part of the Oneworld alliance, which also includes British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Cathay Pacific, and Japan Airlines. They have ten hubs in the United States, the largest of which is at Dallas/Fort Worth. That hub alone sees 5.1 million passengers every single year! On top of that, the airline employes more than 113,000 people.
The history of American Airlines
When over 80 small airlines came together in 1930, American Airlines was born. It started out as a common brand that lots of different independent carries used, and lots of its money came from carrying the mail around for U.S. Mail. Within 3 years, they were flying to 72 different cities.
Over the years, it's merged with lots of different airlines, including Trans Caribbean Airways, Air California, Reno Air, Trans World Airlines, and, most recently, US Airways.
The merger with US Airways makes it the world's biggest airline. Now, all flights that flown with US Airways are operated under American Airlines - although the planes may still be painted with US Airways' colors for a while!
Where does American Airlines make its money?
As everybody who's looked at flight prices knows, flying certainly ain't cheap, especially if you're flying to destinations that are far away. Still, it may still be surprising to find out just how an airline makes its money.
In the case of American Airlines, most of its money actually comes from people who travel just once a year. You might think it would be from people who are flying all over the place for business, but in reality more than half of AA's revenue comes from people who take one flight or fewer on average.
They're also discussing introducing an option that will allow customers to buy a very basic flight and then pay for upgrades. Airlines like Delta already do this, and make money by having customers pay to choose a seat or an upgrade.
And while we're on the topic of money, did you know that American Airlines was the first airline to carry passengers, rather than mail?
