VANTAGEPOINT
THOMASW. HORTON
Chairman&CEO
AmericanAirlines
CHETSNEDDEN
“NOCITY IS
as intensely American as New York
City,”observed theEnglishnovelistAnthonyTrol-
lope.While hemade that statementmany years
ago, tome it still rings true, asmanyof theadjec-
tives Iwoulduse todescribeNewYork—
vibrant
,
ambitious
,
inclusive
,
resilient
—couldbeapplied to
our countryand, if Imaybe sobold, toAmerican
Airlines aswell.
WehavebeenservingNewYorkCity formore
than 80 years. In fact, one of the biggest mile-
stones inaviationhistory tookplace in 1959,when
AA introduced the country’s first-ever coast-to-
coast jet servicebetweenwhatwas then Idlewild
Airport (youknow it todayasJFK)andLosAnge-
les. Theairplaneusedon the inaugural flight—a
112-seatBoeing707— flew thewestbound trip in
fiveandahalfhours, cutting the flying timeacross
the country by 40percent. Flying coast to coast
is routine today, but itwasbignews in 1959— so
much so that
Time
magazine put C.R. Smith, our
CEOat the time, on its cover.
While we are proud of our long and storied
history inNewYork, our focus ison the future.As
one of theworld’s foremost business and leisure
destinations and a principal gateway between
theUnitedStates and the rest of theworld, New
York plays a very strategic role in our global net-
work. Todaywe carrymore thanamillionpeople
amonth to and from the New York area. Along
with our regional airline, American Eagle, we of-
fer nonstop service tomore than60destinations,
with well over 200 combined daily departures
from JFK, LaGuardia, Newark andWhite Plains/
Westchester County airports. Our New York
customers today enjoy unprecedented access
to the country’s topbusinessmarkets. The reach
of ourNewYorkoperations extendswell beyond
the United States, of course. We currently offer
service fromNew York to 28 international des-
tinations, including London, Paris, Rome, Zurich,
Brussels, TokyoandBuenosAires.
We are proud of all we have accomplished in
NewYork,but ifour80-plusyears in theBigApple
has taughtusanything, it is thatwecannever rest
onour laurels. Sowehavebeenworkinghard, on
multiple fronts, topositionour airline tocompete
andwin in New York for many years to come. I
amsuremanyofyouhavealreadyvisitedour$1.3
billion, state-of-the-art terminal at JFK. Opened
in 2007, this 1.5million-square-foot facility was
thebiggest facilitiesproject inAmericanAirlines
history, and it isworld-class inevery respect.More
recently, we’ve committed an additional $30mil-
lion to further enhance our facilities at JFK and
LaGuardia.AtJFK,we recentlycompletedamajor
expansionofourConcourseCAdmiralsClub.Our
LaGuardia enhancements include the refurbish-
ment of both our Admirals Club and the interior
of ConcourseD.
Of course, nomatter how nice our facilities
are, the point of air travel is to leave the airport
and gowhere youwant to go.With that inmind
and to complement our own robust pattern of
service, we areworking closelywithour partners
in the
one
worldglobal alliance— includingBritish
Airwaysand Iberia,withwhomwehave launched
a joint business across theAtlantic— togive you
easieraccess to thedestinations thatmattermost
to you. The network power of our alliances cer-
tainlymerits itsowncolumn.And the fact thatwe
recentlymoved
one
world’sworldwide headquar-
ters toNewYorkunderscoresourdetermination to
playa leading role in thecity’s future. To illustrate
with an example of particular relevance to New
Yorkers:WorkingwithourpartnerBritishAirways,
wearenowable toprovidea selectionof 15daily
flightsbetweenNewYorkandLondon, staggered
in a shuttle-like arrangement, withdepartures as
frequentaseveryhalf-hourduring theevening.We
are justasexcitedabout the jointbusinesswehave
launchedwith Japan Airlines for flying between
NorthAmericaandAsia,whichhasgivenour cus-
tomers inNewYorkandeverywheremorechoices,
shorter travel timesandnewconnectionopportu-
nitiesbeyondour respectivegatewaycities.
New York is, indeed, an “intensely American”
city. It’salsoagreatAmericanAirlinescity, home
to 11,000members of the AA team (active and
retired).We’reproudof thecontributionswehave
made to the city over the last eight decades —
connecting it to theworld, drivingbillions of dol-
lars of economic activity and supporting awide
range of worthy artistic and philanthropic orga-
nizations — and we’re looking forward to even
greater things in the years to come. Wherever
you’regoing today, thankyou for flyingwithus.
AGreat
AmericanCity
We’dlovetohearwhatyouthink
about our airlineandour employees.
Pleasewrite tous at
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FEBRUARY 01, 2012
AA.COM/AMERICANWAY
