American Airways hubs: How AA began and the place it flies now
What’s now the most important service on this planet started as most formidable ventures do: small and insignificant.
American Airways traces its historical past to a 1926 flight from St. Louis and Chicago. Charles A. Lindbergh, chief pilot of Robertson Plane Company, carried a bag of mail on this in any other case regular flight. However Robertson is likely one of the many airways acquired or mixed to make up the current-day American Airways.
Many airways of that period started by carrying mail. Nonetheless, in accordance with American Airways’ historical past web page, American turned the primary airline to fly the Douglas DC-3 in business passenger service between New York and Chicago in 1936. The airline started buying and selling on the New York Inventory Change in 1939 and launched airport lounges for passengers in 1940.
The airline has undoubtedly modified and grown through the years. So, let’s contemplate American Airways’ route historical past after which focus on its present hubs and companions.
American Airways route historical past
In 1945, American Airways started transatlantic service by strategically buying American Export Airways and renaming it American Abroad Airways. Inside the first three years, transatlantic service expanded to Northern European international locations, together with the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Nonetheless, American Abroad Airways was taken by Pan Am Airways in 1950 and finally turned a part of Delta Air Strains.
One other milestone route for American Airways was introducing its nonstop transcontinental service in 1953 with the Douglas DC-7. In 1959, American started scheduled transcontinental passenger service on the Boeing 707 between New York and Los Angeles.
American made a play for the Caribbean by selecting up new Caribbean routes when it merged with Trans Caribbean Airways in 1970. American launched its American Eagle system in 1984, utilizing regional airways to function short- and medium-haul feeder flights to its hub airports. American expanded its service to Latin American locations in 1989 when it picked up a number of key routes from struggling Jap Airways.
In 1999, American Airways, British Airways, Canadian Airways Worldwide, Cathay Pacific Airways and Qantas Airways joined as founding members of the Oneworld alliance.
Now, American Airways serves a handful of locations in Asia, Oceania and the Center East. However its ubiquity within the markets of North America, South America and Europe might be attributed to its aggressive mergers over the previous 75 years.
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Associated: Your final information to the American Airways AAdvantage loyalty program
American Airways hubs
Hub airports exist in a hub-and-spoke system as connecting factors for a lot of vacationers. As such, you may typically want to vary planes in considered one of American’s hub airports until you are originating or terminating at a hub.
American established its first hub-and-spoke airport hub in Dallas in 1981. Now, Dallas serves because the service’s largest hub. American established one other main hub in Miami in 1989 as soon as it acquired some Jap Airways routes. This Miami hub at present provides a handful of transatlantic flights and easy accessibility to the Caribbean and Latin America.
American secured hubs in Charlotte and Philadelphia — and expanded its hub in Phoenix — because it absorbed US Airways in 2015. US Airways had used these airports as hub-and-spoke airports, and American Airways continued this technique.
Presently, the most important American Airways hubs are:
- Charlotte Douglas Worldwide Airport (CLT)
- Chicago’s O’Hare Worldwide Airport (ORD)
- Dallas Fort Price Worldwide Airport (DFW)
- Los Angeles Worldwide Airport (LAX)
- Miami Worldwide Airport (MIA)
- New York’s John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport (JFK)
- New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA)
- Philadelphia Worldwide Airport (PHL)
- Phoenix Sky Harbor Worldwide Airport (PHX)
- Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport (DCA)
Dropped American Airways hubs
Like all airways, American has adjusted its hubs because it has developed. That is included new hubs — together with some added via mergers — and occasional cuts. Among the many service’s notable former hubs are:
- Las Vegas’ Harry Reid Worldwide Airport (LAS): Served as a hub of America West Airways after which US Airways till 2008
- Nashville Worldwide Airport (BNA): Served as a hub of American Airways till 1996
- Pittsburgh Worldwide Airport (PIT): Served as a US Airways hub till 2004
- Raleigh-Durham Worldwide Airport (RDU): Served as an American Airways hub till 1995
- St. Louis Lambert Worldwide Airport (STL): Served as an American Airways hub till 2009
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Worldwide hubs for American Airways companions
American Airways flies nonstop to London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) from many U.S. cities, together with some that are not present hubs. Heathrow can be a serious hub for Oneworld companion airline British Airways.
Past that, American Airways has codeshare agreements with many airline companions, together with its Oneworld alliance companions. By these codeshare agreements, American Airways sells seats on different airways that can assist you get the place you are going.
Listed below are some worldwide airports that function hubs or focus airports for American Airways companions:
- Hong Kong Worldwide Airport (HKG) for Cathay Pacific
- Madrid’s Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD) for Iberia
- Tokyo’s Narita Worldwide Airport (NRT) and Haneda Airport (HND) for Japan Airways
- Sydney Airport (SYD) for Qantas
- Doha’s Hamad Worldwide Airport (DOH) for Qatar Airways
- Kuala Lumpur Worldwide Airport (KUL) for Malaysia Airways
- Casablanca’s Mohammed V Worldwide Airport (CMN) for Royal Air Maroc
- Amman’s Queen Alia Worldwide Airport (AMM) for Royal Jordanian
- Helsinki Airport (HEL) for Finnair
American has many extra companions than are talked about above. You possibly can see all of the companions on the American Airways companions web page.
Associated: The very best web sites for looking Oneworld award availability
Backside line
As soon as a easy mail supply service, American Airways and its companions can now take you nearly anyplace on the planet you need to go. American has an unlimited fleet in addition to airline companions within the Oneworld alliance and past that work collectively to serve greater than 900 locations.