History of American Airlines As CEO Doug Parker Steps Down

During Parker’s two-decade tenure, he consolidated a number of carriers into American through mergers to create the largest airline in the world.

Source: Forbes

However, his leadership is just one part of the carrier’s 95-year long history.

American’s journey started in 1921 with the founding of Robertson Aircraft, a general flying service and manufacturing company. In 1926, the company operated its first-ever flight between St. Louis, Missouri, and Chicago, Illinois.

Source: American Airlines, Britannica, FAA

The famous Charles Lindbergh was the pilot flying the maiden mail route, ferrying US envelopes and packages between the cities. The flight is considered the first regularly scheduled service of what would become American Airlines.

Source: Britannica, FAA

The same year, charter company Colonial Air Transport, formerly known as Bee Line, started carrying mail between New York and Boston.

Source: Britannica, FAA

The companies were independent, but, in 1929, the two merged to create the holding company, Aviation Corporation. This was the first union that would eventually establish American Airlines, which consists of some 85 merged companies today.

Source: Britannica

Aviation Corporation was reorganized as an operator and renamed American Airways in 1930 after new laws and reduction of mail routes forced companies to rethink their business models.

Source: Britannica

Finally, in 1934, the company became American Airlines after reworking its routes into a connected system. Cyrus Rowlett Smith, better known as C.R. Smith, was named CEO of American that same year.

Source: Britannica

After eight years of shuttling mail, American began to invest in passenger service. Smith worked with aircraft manufacturer Donald Douglas to develop the DC-3 passenger plane that would change the course of airline history.

Source: American Airlines

The DC-3 was built to carry passengers and make air travel profitable for carriers without relying on government subsidies. The first version was the Douglas Sleeper Transport, also known as Skysleepers, which was delivered to American in 1936.

Source: Boeing

The luxurious plane had 14 comfortable seats and four compartments that could convert into seven berths, with seven additional beds that folded down from the cabin ceiling.

Source: Boeing

The aircraft could carry 28 daytime passengers or 14 overnight passengers.

Source: Boeing

American flew the first DC-3 flight on June 15, 1936, from New York to Chicago. The company was also the launch customer for the standard 21-seater DC-3, which came shortly after the Skysleeper.

Source: Boeing

In the mid-1940s, American took interest in overseas operations. The company acquired American Export Airlines (AEA) in 1945, which already had transatlantic rights to fly across the pond to northern Europe — a market dominated at the time by Pan Am.

Source: The Dallas Morning News

The international service started with Vought-Sikorsky VS-44 flying boats on routes between New York and cities like Shannon, Copenhagen, Berlin, Oslo, and Helsinki.

Source: Airline Timetable Images

AEA was renamed American Overseas Airlines (AOA) in 1945 and launched its first flight from New York to London Heathrow via Boston; Gander, Newfoundland; and Shannon, Ireland, using a DC-4 named Flagship New England.

Source: The Dallas Morning News

However, unsatisfied with its performance, American sold AOA to Pan Am in 1950 and abandoned its London route, not returning to the city until 1982.

Source: The Dallas Morning News

In 1953, American pioneered transcontinental travel using the DC-7 between New York and Los Angeles. It was the first airliner to operate the route in both directions.

Source: American Airlines

In addition to the DC-3, American also had a hand in developing the DC-10 trijet. The company wanted a widebody plane that was smaller than the mammoth Boeing 747 but could still operate long-haul routes to airports with shorter runways.

Source: American Airlines, Airways Magazine

The DC-10 took its maiden flight in 1970 and first entered commercial service with American in 1971 on a roundtrip flight between Los Angeles and Chicago.

Source: Airways Magazine

In the 1970s, American started expanding, growing from a smaller US carrier to a large international player. In January of that year, the airline acquired Trans Caribbean Airways, gaining routes to places like San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Port au Prince, Haiti.

Source: The New York Times

In 1981, American West Airlines, which would become part of American’s history, commenced operations out of its base in Tempe, Arizona. The carrier was led by Doug Parker and eventually acquired US Airways in 2005 but kept the US Airways brand.

Source: American Airlines, Airways Magazine

Also in 1981, American opened its first base at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport after moving its headquarters from New York City to Fort Worth, Texas in 1979.

Source: The New York Times

American’s hub-and-spoke system grew from Dallas. In 1982, the carrier opened a base at Chicago O’Hare International Airport and returned to London with daily nonstop flights from Dallas/Fort Worth to Gatwick.

Source: Airline Geeks

American’s regional system, American Eagle, was established in 1984. Today, the airline has three wholly-owned subsidiaries, including Envoy Air, Piedmont Airlines, and PSA Airlines.

Source: American Airlines

The carrier also delegates its regional flying to other contracted carriers, including Republic Airways, Mesa Airlines, and SkyWest Airlines.

Source: American Airlines

Towards the end of the 20th century, American continued to expand through route acquisitions and mergers.

In 1986, the carrier announced it would buy AirCal, a California-based carrier, for $225 million.

Source: Los Angeles Times

This gave American the West Coast routes needed to expand into a nationwide airline and made it a strong competitor in the lucrative Los Angeles-San Francisco flight corridor.

Source: Los Angeles Times

Shortly after, in 1990, American bought routes to Central and South America from defunct US-based Eastern Air Lines. The deal made American a dominant competitor in the region and helped it open its huge hub at Miami International Airport.

Source: American Airlines

Continuing eastward, American bought three Trans World Airlines routes to London Heathrow in 1991 for $445 million. This was the first time the carrier flew to Heathrow since the 1940s.

Source: Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News

In another merger in 1999, American purchased Reno Air for $124 million and integrated its network into its operation. However, it sold most of Reno Air’s planes and eventually abandoned most of its Reno airport routes.

Source: The New York Times

American hit a snag in 1997 when the company’s pilots went on strike over low wages. However, the strike was squashed by then-President Bill Clinton when he invoked the Railway Labor Act, forcing the crews to settle for lower-than-demanded pay.

Source: The New York Times

Fortunately, the company ended the century on a good note. In 1999, American, along with British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, now defunct Canadian Airlines, and Qantas founded the global alliance, Oneworld.

Source: Oneworld

Today, Oneworld consists of 14 airlines, though American has recently severed ties with Russia-based alliance member S7 Airlines over the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Source: Oneworld, Market Watch

By 2001, American was flying to most corners of the globe, including Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and South America. It continued to expand that year with the purchase of TWA and its base in St. Louis, Missouri.

Source: CNN

Through the early 2000s, American struggled to recover from financial losses after the 9/11 attacks, which involved two of the carriers’ planes.

Source: American Airlines

It downsized its St. Louis base, eliminated its “More Room Throughout Coach” program, and ended three-class service on international flights.

Source: Chicago Tribune

Nevertheless, through its standardization, the company was able to also expand to new cities in Ireland, India, and China. Finally, in 2005, the company posted a quarterly profit for the first time in over four years.

Source: American Airlines

The company’s MD-80 fleet faced scrutiny from the FAA in 2008 and 2009 over wire issues and reported maintenance lapses, like failure to repair cracks in the bulkhead, incorrectly drilled holes, and improper engine coatings.

Source: NBCNews, The San Diego Union Tribune

In 2013, the two completed their union to become the world’s largest airline, a title American still maintains today.

Source: American Airlines

The company posted an $8.9 billion loss in 2020, furloughed 19,000 employees, retired over 100 aircraft, and was forced to rely on a government bailout to stay afloat.

Source: Insider, NPR, The Points Guy

In an analysis shared with Forbes, Jefferies Financial Group summarized December’s announcement as a “changing of the reigns but no change in strategy.” The company suggested American is well-positioned “to take advantage of the post-pandemic recovery in travel.”

Source: Forbes