EDITOR’SNOTE
ADAM PITLUK
Editor
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SCOTTWINTROW
F
You’re
the
Best
FOLKS, I HAVE TO TELL YOU, I’MABSOLUTELY
amazed, day in and day out, by the courtesy of
American Airlines’ passengers and employees.
Inmy life, I’veworked for more than 20 compa-
nies, and in fields as varied as travel/leisure, law,
service/hospitality,medicine, education, retail and
good old-fashionedmanual labor. And I can say
that out of the hundreds of thousands of people
I’vemet over time in these fields, you— yes,
you
—are thebest.
One of the greatest joys of my job is reading
the messages that passengers and employees
send to our
ac-
count.As thoseofyouwho’vewritten inwithyour
thoughtshavealready learned, the
AmericanWay
staff and I really do read all your letters, andwe
send youpersonal replies. It’s apolicywe imple-
mentedwitha changingof theguard threeyears
ago. It seemedwe’d become somewhat derelict
inour interactionwithour readers, and since this
magazine is geared to have something in it for
everyone,wewere remiss inourcorrespondences.
All that changed inOctober2008whenadepart-
mental reorganizationwas set inmotion.
Now, since that time, I have to tell you, I’m
impressed every daywith the stories of employ-
eeshelpingpassengers, passengershelpingpas-
sengers, passengers helping employees, and so
on. The underlyingmessage here is that when
youdistill these relationships to theirpurest form,
what I’m seeing is strangers helping strangers.
Perhaps there’s a scientific or alchemic explana-
tion forwhat happens toaperson’spsychewhen
he or she boards a plane, but I have to tell you,
the stories of generosity exhibited on American
Airlines planes are bookworthy. All you have to
do is go on our website and click back through
past“AirMail”columns to read justhowcaringour
in-flight community is.Whichbringsme tooneof
themoremagnanimousgesturesextended tome
byyou, our travelers.
Ifyou’ve readmycolumn in thepast, youknow
that neither I normywife is fromTexas, although
wecall theDallas/FortWorthareahome.Wehave
our own family now (two kids and, from time to
time, somegoldfishandsnails), butwealwaysget
a little glum around the holidays because we’re
essentially isolated from the rest of our families.
Then, outof theblue, I receivedanemail from
SusanKandellWilkofsky, anAAdvantagePlatinum
member and a devout reader of
American
Way
. “I feel that I already know you from your
semimonthly ‘wordso’wisdom,’”shewrote. “I en-
joy reading your publication from cover to cover,
and I’mawhizatSudokuand theever-challenging
Mensaquiz.
“Please forgivemy forwardness,butasa fellow
non-Dallasnative, Iwanted to inviteyouandyour
family toour home for dinner for theholiday.”
Susan explained that she and her husband,
Steven, started this traditionmore thanadecade
ago and that it was a gesture they were paying
forward fromwhen they first moved to Dallas;
they, too,hadno familyhere, and theywere thank-
fulwhenDallas locals invited them toholidaydin-
ners. Now that their kids are grown and living in
different states, theyextended thesamecourtesy
tome andmy family that they hopedwould be
extended to their children and their children’s
families. And, folks, I have to tell you, opening
your doors and invitingpeople into your home is
aboutasselfless—andaboutasAmerican—as it
gets. It’ssomething I’m reflectingonevenmoreas
we readyourselves for Christmas andHanukkah.
TheWilkofskys’ hospitality isanother reason I’llbe
paying close attention to our gift guide this year
(page 51), so that I can find the perfect token of
my family’s appreciation.
Wehad a terrific time at theWilkofskyhome,
andwemade new friendships that will undoubt-
edly last a lifetime.Mywifecommented tomeon
thewayout that theexperiencehad renewedher
faith in the kindness of strangers, towhich I re-
plied: “Honey, I have to tell you thatonAAplanes,
I see this kindof thingall the time.”
WanttotalktoAdam?
Reachhimat
10
DECEMBER 01, 2011
AA.COM/AMERICANWAY
