Short answers, pulled from the story.
American Airlines traces its origin to 1930, when more than eighty small carriers were consolidated under The Aviation Corporation holding company, which became American Airways. After postal regulations forced a route reorganization in 1934, the airline was renamed American Airlines. Its earliest predecessor, Robertson Aircraft Corporation, was founded in Missouri in 1921.
American Airlines CEO C. R. Smith called Douglas Aircraft Company founder Donald Wills Douglas Sr. and persuaded him to design a new sleeper aircraft because the existing DC-2 cabin was only 66 inches wide, too narrow for side-by-side berths. Douglas agreed only after Smith committed to purchasing 20 aircraft. The prototype, called the Douglas Sleeper Transport, first flew on the 17th of December 1935, and American inaugurated DC-3 passenger service on the 26th of June 1936.
AAdvantage launched on the 1st of May 1981 and had grown to more than 115 million members as of 2021, making it the largest frequent flyer program in the world. Members can redeem miles for tickets, seat upgrades, car rentals, hotel stays, and other products through partner companies.
American Airlines' parent company, AMR Corporation, filed for bankruptcy protection in 2011 due to a downturn in the airline industry. The airline emerged from bankruptcy through a 2013 merger with US Airways, which created the largest airline in the United States and ultimately the world by passenger volume.
In 1981, American Airlines sold lifetime passes granting unlimited travel for an initial price of $250,000, and 28 passes were sold. Ticketholders began using the passes so heavily, including flying interstate for lunch and traveling to London multiple times a month, that the airline estimated costs of up to $1 million per pass holder. American raised the price to $3 million, stopped offering the pass in 2003, and later used litigation to cancel two passes citing fraudulent activity.
In October 2024, the U.S. Department of Transportation fined American Airlines $50 million for violations of federal disability protection laws committed between 2019 and 2023, the largest such penalty ever assessed against an airline. Violations included unsafe physical assistance to wheelchair users and mishandling of thousands of wheelchairs. Half the penalty went to the U.S. Treasury and half was credited toward remediation investments.