VANTAGEPOINT
CHETSNEDDEN
ONEOFMY
favorite things about theairlinebusi-
ness is the roleweget toplay in someof the spe-
cialmoments inourcustomers’ lives. Forexample,
thismonth,millionsofpeoplewill take to theskies
to attend the graduation of someone they care
about. As we all know, the transition from one
stage of life to another —whether to another
school or into the “real world” — is a great op-
portunity to stretch, grow and explore theworld
likenever before.
Withour announcedmergerwithUSAirways,
we’re going through a pretty big transition our-
selves at AmericanAirlines. And like theClass of
2013, we are stretching and growing in exciting
ways. For example, thismonthwe are launching
our first-everservice toSouthKorea,withnonstop
flightsbetweenDallas/FortWorthandSeoul.
Onaper capitabasis, SouthKoreawasoneof
the poorest countries in the world in the 1960s.
But with Seoul leading theway, the country has
transformed itself intoa fullyglobalized industrial
powerhouse. In2004, theSouthKoreaneconomy
passed the trillion-dollarmark, and today itsgross
domestic product ranks among the 20 largest in
theworld. The transformation isoften referred to
as “themiracleon theHanRiver.”
Seoul is home tomore than 10millionpeople,
and ithasoneof thehighestpopulationdensities
on theplanet.While thecity, in termsof landarea,
accounts for less thanonepercentof thecountry,
it generates roughly a fifth of the country’s GDP.
We all know that many factors contribute to a
city’seconomicvitality—easyaccess toair travel,
for instance.But I suspectSeoul’sbreakneckpace
is at least partly attributable to the city’s more
than 10,000 coffee shops (more than any other
city in theworld, it isclaimed). Thehighlycaffein-
atedmetropolis is home tomore global Fortune
500 companies — including Samsung, LG and
Hyundai-Kia— thanall but ahandful of cities.
Inaddition to itscentral economicandpolitical
role, Seoul is also South Korea’s cultural center.
TheNew York Times
recently observed that the
city “has emerged as one of themost hip (and
underrated) cultural capitals in the world.” In-
deed, thereare fewplacesonEarthwhereyoucan
experience somuch history alongside somuch
modernity, from ancient palaces and shrines to
ultramodern skyscrapers and from traditional
Korean music to the K-pop that has taken the
Americanairwavesby storm.
With a new free-trade agreement between
the United States and South Korea taking effect
lastyear, theeconomicandcultural linksbetween
our two countrieswill surely grow even stronger
in the years to come, andwe are excited about
the rolewewill play inmaking that happen. Our
new service between DFW and Seoul — part of
our joint-business agreementwith JapanAirlines
across thePacific—will connectoneof theworld’s
most vibrant and fastest-growing citieswith our
largest connectinghub, providing travelers from
SouthKoreaeasyaccess tomore than200desti-
nations in theU.S.andLatinAmerica.This includes
Lima, Peru, another great city, whichwe began
serving fromDFW just lastmonth.
Launching our Seoul service was a big and
complex undertaking, and I want to congratu-
late and thank all themembers of our teamwho
workedquicklyand creatively tomake it happen.
And on behalf of everyone at American, I also
want to congratulate this month’s graduates. I
imagineyou’regetting lotsof advice, so forwhat
it’sworth, here’smine:Getout and see theworld.
I know that’s not a surprising suggestion coming
from an airline CEO, but I firmly believe that the
moreyouseeandexperienceof theworldaround
you, themore you will discover about yourself
and the roleyou’remeant toplay.
Wherever your search takes you, whether it’s
across the country or across the globe, we are
here tohelp.Andwhereveryouaregoing today, I
want to thankyou for flyingwithus.
Happy travels.
SeoulStyle
THOMASW. HORTON
Chairman&CEO
AmericanAirlines
We’dlovetohearwhatyouthink
about our airlineandour employees.
Pleasewrite tous at
WanttoreadTomHorton’s
past columns?Visit aa.com/americanway
and clickon “VantagePoint.”
Formore information on themerger, please refer
to the informationunder theheadings “Additional
Information andWhere To Find It” and “Caution-
ary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking State-
ments”onpage70of thismagazine.
8
MAY 01, 2013
AA.COM/AMERICANWAY
