American Airlines, Inc. (AA), commonly referred to as American, is a major American airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is the world's largest airline when measured by fleet size, revenue, scheduled passenger-kilometres flown, and number of destinations served.
The two organizations from which American Airlines originated, were Robertson Aircraft Corporation and Colonial Air Transport. The former was first formed in Missouri in 1921, with both being merged in 1929 into a holding company The Aviation Corporation. This in turn, was made in 1930 into an operating company and rebranded as American Airways. In 1934, when new laws and attrition of mail contracts forced many airlines to reorganize, the corporation redid its routes into a connected system, and was renamed American Airlines. Between 1970 and 2000, the company grew into being an international carrier, purchasing Trans World Airlines in 2001. In 2011, due to a downturn in the airline industry, American Airlines and AMR Corporation filed for bankruptcy protection. In 2013, US Airways and American Airlines merged. Eventually operations were merged under one operating certificate to create the largest United States airline which kept the American Airlines brand name.
American Airlines is a founding member of Oneworld, founded on 1 February 1999.
The airline started a frequent flyer program partnership with China Southern Airlines in March 2019.
Livery from late 1960s
McDonnell Douglas MD-82, registration N579AA, built 1991, serial number 53156 Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY), New Orleans, LA, USA, 15 August 2009
Livery from 2013
Boeing 757-2B7, registration N935UW, built 1994, serial number 27201 Schiphol (AMS), Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 12 June 2016
