Modernizing the cargo business

American Airlines Cargo, a division of American Airlines Group, the holding company for American Airlines and US Airways, provides one of the largest cargo networks in the world with cargo terminals and interline connections across the globe. Every day, American transports cargo between major cities in the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Latin America and Asia. Together with wholly owned and third-party regional carriers operating as American Eagle and US Airways Express, the airlines operate an average of nearly 6,700 flights per day to 339 destinations in 54 countries from its hubs in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Washington, D.C. On February 14, 2013, AMR Corporation and US Airways Group officially announced that the two companies would merge to form the largest airline (and airline holding company) in the world, with bondholders of American Airlines parent AMR owning 72 percent of the new company and US Airways shareholders owning the remaining 28 percent. The combined airline would carry the American Airlines name and branding, while US Airways’ management team would retain most operational management positions, and the headquarters would be consolidated at American’s current headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. The merger has now created the world’s largest airline, which, along with United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, would control three-quarters of the U.S. market. Ten months after the two carriers completed their merger in December, the cargo divisions have combined under a single air waybill, American said in a news release on Oct 20. The cargo teams have combined 154 facilities and aligned products, making that unit the first operational division at the post-merger American to be fully integrated. Giving an update on the integration process, Jim Butler, president, American Airlines Cargo, said, “The objective of our integration has been to bring together the expertise, solutions, and teams you’ve relied on from both cargo organizations into the industry’s most customer-focused airfreight partner. I am proud to share with you that we will take the largest step toward this goal by becoming one cargo organization and transitioning to a single air waybill using the American Airlines prefix 001.” With initiatives like e-freight, a new state-of-the-art pharmaceutical facility in Philadelphia, and 70 new widebody and hundreds of narrowbody aircraft on the way, American Airlines Cargo has been modernizing the cargo business.