V A N T A G E P O I N T
AMERICANWAY
JANUARY 1 2009
8
PHOTOGRAPHBYCHETSNEDDEN
We’d love to hearwhat you think about our
airline and our employees. Pleasewrite to us
atwww.aa.com/customerrelations.
Lindbergh)we operatedway back in 1926.
Today, airfreight forwarders, logistics pro-
viders, and a myriad of other businesses
rely on AA Cargo to keep their operations
humming and their customers happy. In
some cases, we represent the glue holding
an entire manufacturing process together.
With thousands of flights a day to hun-
dreds of destinations in theUnited States,
Europe, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean,
Latin America, and Asia, we have the ca-
pacity to carry up to one hundredmillion
pounds of cargo eachweek.
We are one of the largest cargo carriers
on the planet, but that doesn’t mean we
carry only the big stuff. In fact, we offer a
full range of precision-shipping products
perfect for those crucial legal documents
that must get to New York by the close of
business and for the cooler containing hu-
mankidneys thatmust reach theother side
of the country in time to savea life.
You might say that on American Air-
lines, youdon’t need to be a king, a queen,
or evenaperson toget the royal treatment.
On every airplane we fly, amazing stories
are unfolding, both in the passenger cabin
and in thebellybelow.Andonbehalfofour
entire team, I want to thank you for let-
tingus be a part of your story today. If you
would like to learn more about our cargo
capabilities, please visit
and if you get the chance, you should defi-
nitely check out “Tutankhamun and the
GoldenAge of the Pharaohs” at theDallas
MuseumofArt.
Haveagreat trip, andhappyNewYear!
FitforaKing
Gerard J. Arpey
Chairman&CEO
AmericanAirlines
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I
If you are reading this column aboard an
AmericanAirlines jet, as I assumemost of
youare, takeaquick lookaround the cabin.
Check out your fellow travelers and imag-
ine themultitude of reasons they are flying
today. Thewomannext to youmight be on
her way to a pivotal businessmeeting. The
man behind youmight be about to see his
new grandson for the first time. The young
lady across the aisle might be on her way
back to college. Tome, our ability to enrich
people’s lives by transporting them quickly
fromonepartof theworld toanother isvery
inspiring.
But the wonders we make possible are
not confined to the passenger cabin. In the
belly of any given American Airlines jet,
theremay be tropical flowers on their way
to a florist in Boston, semiconductors en
route toamanufacturer inTexas, fresh sea-
foodbeing transferred fromChileanwaters
toChicagodinnerplates, or evenadiadem.
Before you reach for your dictionary, let
me explain that a diadem is a royal crown,
and the one we carried most recently be-
longed to King Tutankhamun of Egypt.
American Airlines Cargo was chosen to
transport fromLondon toDallas the price-
less artifacts included in the exhibit “Tu-
tankhamun and the Golden Age of the
Pharaohs,” which is showing at the Dallas
Museum of Art throughMay 17. We were
entrusted with shipping more than 130
pieces, someweighingnearly a ton. The ex-
hibit provides a glimpse into the life of the
famous “BoyKing,” who diedundermyste-
rious circumstanceswhenhewas 18or 19.
Our team’s ability to flawlessly move an
exhibit of this size, complexity, anddelicacy
underscores justhow farourcargocapabili-
ties have come since the mail-only flights
(often piloted by legendary aviator Charles
