American Airlines

American Airlines (AA/AAL) is a scheduled airline based in Fort Worth, United States and founded in 1930. Its operations are centred on Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Originfacts tracks 12 destinations on its network across 10 countries.

American Airlines traces its roots to 1930, when a consortium of smaller carriers was consolidated into American Airways, later renamed American Airlines in 1934. Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, the carrier grew through the twentieth century into one of the pioneers of commercial aviation in the United States, introducing innovations such as the first modern loyalty programme and playing a central role in the jet age. Following its 2013 merger with US Airways, American became the largest airline in the world by fleet size and scheduled passengers carried.

The airline operates a vast domestic and international network from hubs at Dallas/Fort Worth, Charlotte, Chicago O'Hare, Miami, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Washington Reagan, New York JFK and LaGuardia, and Los Angeles. Dallas/Fort Worth serves as its largest hub and global gateway. American flies to destinations across North and South America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, with particular strength in transatlantic and Latin American markets.

Its mainline fleet is built around Airbus A319, A320 and A321 narrowbodies alongside Boeing 737-800 and 737 MAX 8 aircraft, with widebody long-haul services operated by the Boeing 777-200ER, 777-300ER and 787-8 and 787-9 Dreamliner. Regional feed is provided by subsidiaries and partners under the American Eagle brand.

American is a founding member of the Oneworld alliance, giving customers access to reciprocal benefits and connections with carriers such as British Airways, Qantas, Japan Airlines and Iberia. Its AAdvantage programme, launched in 1981, is widely recognised as the world's first airline frequent flyer scheme and remains central to the carrier's customer proposition. While American benefits from unmatched network scale, it continues to work on improving operational reliability and balancing the financial pressures of a post-pandemic recovery.