History of American Airlines
95 years strong
On April 15, 1926, Charles Lindbergh flew the first American Airlines flight – carrying U.S. mail from St. Louis, Missouri, to Chicago, Illinois. After 8 years of mail routes, the airline began to form into what it is today. American founder C.R. Smith worked with Donald Douglas to create the DC-3; a plane that changed the entire airline industry, switching revenue sources from mail to passengers.
Highlights
June 25, 1936
American is the first airline to fly the DC-3 in commercial service from New York to Chicago
1939
All American Aviation, later US Airways, is founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
June 10, 1939
American begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
1945
American begins operating service for the first time with American Overseas Airlines
1946
American establishes its maintenance and engineering base in Tulsa, Oklahoma
1953
American pioneers nonstop transcontinental service across the U.S. with the Douglas DC-7
1957
American opens the world’s first special facility for flight attendant training, the American Airlines Stewardess College, in Dallas/Fort Worth
January 1959
American introduces the Lockheed Electra, the first U.S.-designed turboprop plane
December 3, 1964
American hires Dave Harris, the first African-American pilot for a commercial airline
January 1970
American merges with Trans Caribbean Airways, gaining Caribbean routes
May 1, 1981
American introduces AAdvantage®, the first airline loyalty program
August 1, 1983
America West commences operations in Tempe, Arizona
November 1, 1984
American introduces the American Eagle system
December 20, 1989
American announces plans to expand its Latin American service with routes from Eastern Airlines
March 27, 1991
American celebrates its 1 billionth customer
July 1, 1997
All American flights become nonsmoking
January 10, 2001
American announces plans to acquire Trans World Airlines assets
September 11, 2001
American tragically loses 23 people, including pilots, flight attendants and family members, in the events surrounding Flights 11 and 77
September 27, 2005
US Airways merges with America West
November 13, 2008
American introduces mobile boarding passes
December 9, 2013
AMR Corporation and US Airways Group officially form the American Airlines Group
March 20, 2015
American Airlines Group is added to the S&P 500 index
May 7, 2015
American flies its first revenue flight with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner
August 15, 2015
American's Robert W. Baker Integrated Operations Center opens in Fort Worth
October 16, 2015
US Airways flies its last flight, Flight 1939
October 17, 2015
American and US Airways begin operating as one airline with a Single Passenger Service System
April 15, 2016
American celebrates its 90th birthday
January 17, 2017
Air Transport World names American its 2017 Airline of the Year
September 4, 2019
American retires the last of its MD-80 aircraft after 36 years as the workhorse of the airline's fleet