American Airlines Group, Inc. is a publicly traded airline holding company headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It was formed by the December 9, 2013 merger of AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines, and US Airways Group, the parent company of US Airways. The airline groups together form the largest airline in the world, with more than 6,700 daily flights to 336 locations in 56 countries worldwide, about $40 billion in operating revenue, over 100,000 employees, and plans to take delivery of 607 new aircraft, including 517 narrowbody aircraft and 90 widebody international aircraft. The integration of American Airlines and US Airways under a single operating certificate is expected to be completed in late 2015.
§Merger between AMR Corporation and US Airways Group
In January 2012, US Airways Group, the parent company of US Airways, expressed interest in taking over AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines. In March, AMR's CEO Tom Horton said that the company was open to a merger. US Airways (US) told some American Airlines (AA) creditors that merging the two carriers could yield more than $1.5 billion a year in added revenue and cost savings. On April 20, American Airlines' three unions said they supported a proposed merger between the two airlines. Under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, American Airlines had been looking to merge with another airline. Earlier in July, a bankruptcy court filing stated that US Airways was an American Airlines creditor and "prospective merger partner"; on August 31, US Airways CEO Doug Parker announced that American Airlines and US Airways had signed a nondisclosure agreement, in which they would discuss the possibility of a merger.
In February 2013, American Airlines and US Airways announced plans to merge, creating, by some measurements, the largest airline in the world. In the deal, which was expected to close in the third quarter of 2013, stakeholders of AMR would own 72% of the company and US Airways shareholders would own the remaining 28%. The combined airline will carry the American Airlines name and branding; the holding company will be renamed American Airlines Group Inc. The US Airways' management team, including CEO Doug Parker, will retain most operational management positions. The headquarters for the new airline will also be consolidated at American's current headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. US Airways will exit Star Alliance upon completion of the merger, and American will retain its Oneworld alliance. Judge Sean Lane approved the merger on March 27, 2013, but declined to approve a proposed $20 million severance package to AA executive Thomas W. Horton. On July 12, US Airways shareholders approved the proposed merger.
On August 13, 2013, the United States Department of Justice along with attorneys general from the District of Columbia, Arizona (headquarters of US Airways), Florida, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas (headquarters of American Airlines), and Virginia filed a lawsuit seeking to block the merger, arguing that it would mean less competition and higher prices. American Airlines and US Airways both said that they would fight against the lawsuit and defend their merger. In early October 2013, the District Attorney of Texas quit the anti-trust lawsuit.
The Department of Justice reached a settlement of its lawsuit on November 12, 2013. The settlement will require the merged airline to give up landing slots or gates in 7 major airports. Under the deal, the new American is required to sell 104 slots at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and 34 slots at LaGuardia Airport. An additional requirement is that American sell two gates at O'Hare International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Logan International Airport, Dallas Love Field and Miami International Airport. Some of the slots will be sold to low-cost carriers such as JetBlue and Southwest Airlines.
A private antitrust suit, filed by a group of 40 passengers and travel agents, also sought to block the merger. American's bankruptcy court judge refused to enjoin the two airlines from merging, saying that the group did not demonstrate that the merger would irreparably harm them. The plaintiffs' lawyer appealed and was turned down at the U.S. District Court level and was further rebuffed at the Supreme Court after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg denied a stay request filed by him.
Following the Department of Justice approval, the merged company traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol AAL.
§Combined fleet
§Mainline
As of February 2015, the American Airlines fleet consists of 631 aircraft with an order backlog of 364; while the US Airways fleet consists of 331 aircraft with an order backlog of 32.
After retiring its last Airbus A300 aircraft in 2009, American Airlines operated an all-Boeing fleet (including aircraft produced by McDonnell Douglas before it merged with Boeing in 1997), until the first Airbus A319 aircraft entered the fleet in July 2013.
By the end of 2015, US Airways will maintain a nearly all-Airbus fleet, with the exception of some Boeing aircraft and a small fleet of Embraer jets. Most, if not all, of the airline's remaining Boeing jets are due for retirement near the end of the decade. These non-Airbus aircraft were being retained due to the union's minimum fleet size requirement.
With the post-merger with American Airlines, the combined airline will continue to operate the largest fleet of Airbus aircraft in the world.
All airframes will be transferred to American Airlines once a Single Operating Certificate is awarded by the Federal Aviation Administration.
§American Eagle
American Eagle is the regional marketing brand of American Airlines. Currently, four airlines fly as American Eagle. Chautauqua's last scheduled flight with American Connection was on August 18, 2014, and the Envoy Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines Group was previously known as American Eagle Airlines prior to the merger with US Airways. PSA Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines Group and an operator for US Airways Express, started operating new CRJ-900 next-gen aircraft in American Eagle livery since Spring 2014. As of May 20, 2014, PSA has taken delivery of three CRJ-900. On May 19, 2014, Mesa Airlines agreed to add another six Bombardier CRJ-900 regional jets to its fleet, and operate them as American Eagle. American has purchased 40 Embraer E-175 regional jets to be placed at Envoy Air.
The table below shows the combined fleet for airlines operating at American Eagle and those operating as US Airways Express. All US Airways Express operated aircraft will eventually operate as American Eagle when AA and US operate on a single certificate. The column "Operating as" in the table below specifies which regional brand the aircraft are currently operated under.
The addition of Embraer ERJ-145 aircraft to Piedmont Airlines, ExpressJet, and Trans States Airlines; as well as the addition of Bombardier CRJ-700 aircraft to PSA Airlines are not included in the total count for orders because these aircraft are being transferred from Envoy Air and are not new aircraft on order.
§Livery
In January 2013, American launched a new rebranding and marketing campaign dubbed, "A New American". In addition to a new logo, American Airlines introduced a new livery for all aircraft in the fleet. The airline calls the new livery and branding "a clean and modern update". The current design features an abstract American flag on the tail, along with a silver-painted fuselage, as a throw-back to the old livery. The new design was painted by Leading Edge Aviation Services in California.
Starting in January 2014, following the merger of US Airways with American Airlines, all US Airways aircraft will be progressively painted in American Airlines livery. The first legacy US Airways aircraft to re-enter revenue service was an Airbus A319, tail number N700UW, which previously sported a Star Alliance branding.
§Heritage Liveries
On December 16, 2013, Doug Parker, the CEO of American Airlines Group announced that a TWA heritage aircraft will be added in the future. "We will continue that tradition at American, including introducing a TWA aircraft in the future and keeping a US Airways livery aircraft. That also means we will keep a heritage American livery in the fleet".
§Hub network
When completed, the merged airline will have the following hubs:
Share figures in the table above indicate the percentage of total domestic passengers at each airport.
A key part of the government's objection to the proposed merger is the combined share of takeoff and landing slots at slot-controlled airports that are existing hubs for either American Airlines or US Airways. Slot-controlled airports have restricted access for new airline entrants or expanded service by competitive airlines. The table below shows the share of total takeoff/landing slots for each airline at slot-controlled airports:
§References
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