American Airilines

            American airlines is the world's largest airline company and is at the forefront of the industry. Yet, a single catastrophic event brought this organization to its knees. September 11, 2001 is a day forever emblazed as being one of the US's most tragic dates in history. This date not only changed the country and its morale, it was a disastrous day for American Airlines as well. Alas, all their successes became tainted with the September 11 attacks, the Iraqi war, an airborne respiratory disease called severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and the weak economy. These inevitable external circumstances forced the company to modify its goals.
             To better understand the company's objectives, we first have to focus on the company's background. This way we will have a better image of the company. American Airlines started in 1934 when Aviation Corporation started. Aviation Corporation was formed to acquire smaller and newer aviation companies, and they are now known as American Airlines (AA). Over the course of the years, AA made some major changes that brought them to the top. To begin, they came up with the Family Fare Plan, which allowed families to travel together at reduced rates. The CEO at the time also came up with a "Fear for Flying" program, which helped AA customers feel safer about flying with them. Later, they opened the world's first special facility for flight attendant training, the AA Stewardess College. During the 1970's, AA suffered from a minor recession, and they brought themselves out by releasing the most popular fare, the Super Saver and introduced a rewards program for frequent fliers, AAdvantage. Furthermore, in 1990 and 1991 due to a recession and the Gulf War, demand for air travel dropped drastically. For this reason, fare wars started and caused all the airlines to incur massive losses. At the moment, AA is facing a similar situation except that other factors, such as SARS and terrorism, have made the situation worst.