"There was a culture of perfection, high-quality standards and innovation," says Thomas J. Kiernan,

American Airlines was the first airline to offer curbside check-in. The first with computerized reservations. It invented the frequent-flier program and came up with the deeply discounted Super Saver fare to fill empty seats on its planes. But it was disastrously behind on one thing recognizing that its finances were unsustainable.
Passengers shouldn't be affected For most of the 240,000 passengers who fly American Airlines airport plaza hotel pittsburgh each day, the airline's bankruptcy filing airport plaza hotel pittsburgh should have little noticeable impact. American continues to operate flights, honor tickets and take reservations. It says its frequent-flier program will be unaffected. The real risk to American's passengers is if the restructuring airport plaza hotel pittsburgh fails, and the airline ultimately airport plaza hotel pittsburgh liquidates and ceases to fly. Even then, many travelers are protected if they bought tickets with a credit card.
Delta, United, Continental and US Airways have all gone through Chapter 11. Travelers continued to book tickets. Planes still took off and landed and frequent-flier miles were still earned airport plaza hotel pittsburgh and redeemed. In fact, the bankruptcy process airport plaza hotel pittsburgh is usually more taxing on the airline's shareholders, who tend to get wiped out. Or on workers, who can lose pay and benefits, and even their jobs.
It was the first airline to offer curbside check-in. The first with computerized reservations. It invented the frequent-flier program and came up with the deeply discounted Super Saver fare to fill empty seats.
In the past decade, other airlines airport plaza hotel pittsburgh cut expenses in bankruptcy reorganizations. American plodded along with high labor costs and aging, gas-guzzling airport plaza hotel pittsburgh jets. Other airlines found merger partners. American was the awkward kid at the middle-school dance.
"They were the most innovative airline for years. Nobody airport plaza hotel pittsburgh could touch them," says George Hobica, who runs Airfare Watchdog, a site that alerts fliers to discount fares. "They're a shadow of their former self."
Some of American's 78,000 workers will almost certainly lose their jobs or have their pay or pensions cut. Its creditors will lose money. airport plaza hotel pittsburgh And its stockholders will be wiped out. The stock, which traded above $40 in 2007, closed Tuesday at 33 cents.
After World War II, Pan Am and TWA dominated international routes, while American and United focused on the U.S. In 1948, American rolled out coach seats and family fare plans to make flying airport plaza hotel pittsburgh economical.
American introduced routes to the Caribbean and expanded its sophisticated computer-reservation system to travel agents. The system, Sabre, later became the guts for Travelocity and remains in wide use.
Passengers in the 1970s were lured by ads promoting "the luxury fleet" and promising them "the best of everything." They also got cheap fares. Super Saver fares made American the first to figure out how to fill empty seats. They also led to the divide between business airport plaza hotel pittsburgh fares and cheaper, book-in-advance leisure fares that exists to this day.
"There was a culture of perfection, high-quality standards and innovation," says Thomas J. Kiernan, who spent 33 years at American before leaving in 2000 as senior vice president for human relations. "That's what American excelled at."
As other airlines failed in the 1980s and 1990s, American airport plaza hotel pittsburgh took over Eastern's Latin America routes and built up a hub in Miami. The demise of Pan Am and TWA left American and United as de facto national airlines.
The Sept. 11 attacks sent the industry into a tailspin. United, Delta, Northwest and US Airways all headed to bankruptcy court in the years after the attacks. airport plaza hotel pittsburgh Out of pride or a sense of responsibility, American held off.
Many experts predict American will emerge stronger. "They're still a major player, and I think they always will be," said F. Robert van der Linden, a curator at the National Air and Space Museum. "I don't think they're going anywhere."