12
NOVEMBER2015
AMERICANWAY
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Proud to
Serve
PERSPECTIVE
E
versincemyfirstflightwhen
Iwassixyearsold, Iwanted
tofly forAmericanAirlines.
Timesweremuchdifferent
thenand Iwasallowed tosit
in thecockpit formuchof theflight.Fast
forward to 1998when Ibeganmycareer
withAmerican–andnow I’maFirst
Officeron theBoeing787Dreamliner.
I learned tofly in theU.S.Marine
Corpson theKC-130aircraftand I
continued toserve in theReserveswhen I
joinedAmerican.Thecompany’ssupport
ofme fulfillingmymilitarydutieswas
phenomenal and itbecamevitalwhen
Ireturned toactivedutyafterSept. 11,
2001, servingmultipledeployments. I
laterreturned to theReservesandretired
from theMarines thisyearwith29years
of service.Today,Americanhasmore
than7,000employeeswhopreviously
servedorcontinue toserve. Iamsoproud
towork foracompany thatemphasizes
support formilitaryveterans, service
membersand their families.
Just lastmonth,more than1,000
employeevolunteerscame together for
SkyBall, a three-dayeventculminating in
ablack tiegala.Proceeds,whichexceeded
$2million in2014,benefit theAirPower
Foundation,whichsupportsorganizations
like theGarySiniseFoundation that
works tohonordefenders, veterans, first
responders, their familiesand those
inneed. SiniseandhisLt.DanBand
alsoentertain troopsand their families
throughout theworld, andAmerican is
honored toget them there.
Additionally, eachDecember,we
partnerwithSnowballExpress tobring
childrenandspousesofour fallen
militaryheroes toDallas/FortWorth
for fourdaysdesigned tocreatenew
memoriesandhealing. I’llhave thehonor
of volunteering forSnowballExpress
againnextmonth. It truly isoneof the
most specialmoments inmycareer.
Anotherprogram,FuelSmart,
supportsAirCompassion forVeterans
(ACV)andassistsservicemembers,
veteransand their familieswith travel
in timesofneed.WhenAmericansafely
reducesour fuel consumption,we
donateaportionof thosesavings toACV.
Since2010, over$4millionandmore
than5,000flightshavehelpedmilitary
familiesandveterans.Asapilot, Iam
extremelyproud tocontributebysimply
saving fuel.
Flying for thegreatestairline in the
world ismydream job.But Iamhumbled
tohave theopportunity tovolunteer
formany initiatives thataremakinga
difference to thosewhohavegivenso
much.
Thankyou forflyingwithus today.On
behalfofAmerican’s 100,000employees,
thankyou to thosewhoserveandhave
served.
JOHNMITCHELL “MITCH”BELL
DFW-basedFirstOfficer
Iamsoproud towork
foracompany that
emphasizessupport
formilitaryveterans,
servicemembersand
their families.
