AMERICAN EAGLE AIRLINES

'American Eagle Airlines' is an airline based in Fort Worth, Texas^[1]. It is a airline partner of American Airlines^[1] (both wholly owned by the AMR Corporation holding company), operating over 1,800 flights a day, serving 159 cities across the USA, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean^[1]. It is considered to be the world's largest regional airline system.^[4]
Like its partner, American Airlines, American Eagle is an affiliate member of the Oneworld alliance. American Eagle also has a code sharing agreement with Northwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Continental Airlines on California routes.
The name was also used between April 1980 and April 1981 by an unrelated short lived start up airline which flew charters while it awaited the granting of routes. The authority to fly several routes was given, but the airline suspended operations and filed bankruptcy before any scheduled operations were flown.^[5]

Contents

History

Hubs

Destinations

Fleet

Incidents and accidents

See also

References

External links

History

American Eagle was conceived in the mid-1980s as a collection of regional carriers with contracts to carry the American Eagle brand name and started operations on November 1 1984. American Eagle's first flight was taken by Metroflight Airlines on November 1, 1984 from Fayetteville, Arkansas to Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. The first of its operations was for Command Airways (or Command Airlines) and was based at Dutchess County Airport in Wappinger, New York. The operation there included a maintenance facility. Other carriers included Air Virginia, Simmons Airlines, Wings West Airlines, Metro Airlines and Chaparral Airlines. In the late 1980s, these carriers were purchased by AMR Corporation and combined to form American Eagle Airlines. Executive Airlines, Inc. was not merged into American Eagle, and it still provides American Eagle service by contract, although it is wholly owned by American Eagle.
American Eagle launched its first jet service in May 1998 from Chicago to Cleveland, Cincinnati and Milwaukee using Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft. Business Express was acquired in March 1999 and integrated in December 2000. It has 10,054 employees.
American Eagle's flights from Los Angeles International Airport are a codeshare with several airlines including Continental Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines Alaska Airlines, Qantas, and are under the Delta Connection name for Delta Air Lines

Hubs

American Eagle operates from hubs in Boston, Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York-JFK, New York-LaGuardia, Raleigh-Durham and San Juan.
American Eagle also operates maintenance facilities at Abilene Regional Airport in Abilene, Texas; Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Bentonville, Arkansas; Port Columbus International Airport in Columbus, Ohio; San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport in San Luis Obispo, CA; and Sawyer International Airport in Marquette, Michigan.

Destinations

Fleet

American Eagle taxiing to takeoff at Raleigh Durham International Airport

An American Eagle ERJ outbound from Reagan National in Washington DC.

The American Eagle Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft as of October 2006 :

'American Eagle Fleet'

Type	Fleet	Passengers (Economy)	Routes	Notes
Bombardier CRJ 700	25	70	Operated from Chicago O'Hare and Dallas/Ft. Worth on high-density routes
Embraer ERJ-135	49	37	Throughout American Eagle system
Embraer ERJ-140	59	44	Throughout American Eagle system
Embraer ERJ-145	108	50	Throughout American Eagle system
Saab 340B	28 ★	34	Primarily operates intra-state routes from Dallas/Ft. Worth and Los Angeles	★ 30-35 Saabs being added to the fleet by 2008 to offset the 28 being returned to Saab Leasing.
ATR 72-Super ATR-210	39	64	Operates Florida and Caribbean routes from Miami and San Juan	Operates Under Executive Air

As of October 2006, the average age of American Eagle fleet is 5.7 years.^[6]
Executive Air, which has a separate operating certificate from American Eagle Airlines, uses ATR 72 aircraft based in San Juan (SJU) and Miami (MIA).

Incidents and accidents

★ May 8, 1987: American Eagle (Executive Air) Flight 5452 a CASA 212-200 was on a domestically scheduled passenger flight between San Juan, Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, Puerto Rico crashed short of Runway 09 while landing at Mayaguez. After impacting, the plane continued through a chain link fence and a ditch. Off the 6 occupants onboard (4 passengers and 2 crew on board) 2 were killed. The cause of the crash was determined to be the improper maintenance in setting the flight idle propeller and engine fuel flow.
[1]


★ February 19, 1988: American Eagle Flight 3378, a Fairchild SA227 was on a regularly scheduled flight between Raleigh-Richmond when it crashed into a reservoir about a mile from Raleigh-Durham International Airport from where it had departed in the vicinity of Cary, North Carolina: The aircraft departed during low ceiling, low visibility, and night conditions. Analysis of radar data indicated the aircraft was in a 45 degree descending turn. Both crew members and all 10 passengers were killed. It was revealed during the investigation that the pilot had complained of illness but decided to continue the flight. [2].

★ June 7, 1992: American Eagle (Executive Air) Flight ? a CASA 212-200 was on a regular flight between San Juan, Puerto Rico and Mayaguez, Puerto Rico when it lost control and crashed nose-down about 3/4 mile from the Mayaguez, Puerto Rico airport. Both crew and all three passengers were killed. The cause of the crash was the copilot's inadvertent activation of the levers, causing the plane to lose control.[3]

★ October 31, 1994: American Eagle Flight 4184 an ATR 72; Near Roselawn, Indiana: The aircraft inverted, dived, and crashed from holding pattern at 10,000 feet (3050 m) due to icing. The four crew and 64 passengers were all killed. [4].

★
★ Following the crash near Roselawn, longstanding problems with the ATR aircraft operating in some icing conditions were revealed by a Stephen Fredrick (a whistleblower later fired by the airline) in the book "Unheeded Warning - The Inside Story of American Eagle Flight 4184". The book was published in July, 1996 by McGraw-Hill. American Eagle has since phased out service using ATR aircraft in cold-weather areas, replacing the aircraft with regional jets. However, ATR-72 aircraft are still used for Caribbean operations from Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico, where ice is not an issue.

★ December 13, 1994: American Eagle Flight 3379, a Jetstream 31 was on a reguarly scheduled service of Raleigh-Greensboro-Raleigh when it crashed into a wooded area about 4 miles SW of the Raleigh-Durham International Airport in the vicinity of Morrisville, NC. Of the 20 onboard (18 passengers and 2 crewmembers) 15 were killed while the 5 survivors received serious injuries. The probable cause of the crash was the pilot not following proper procedure when it came to an engine failure situation. [5].

★ May 9, 2004; an American Eagle Super ATR, flight 5401, crash-landed in San Juan, Puerto Rico when one of the tires blew. Seventeen people were injured, but there were no fatalities [6].

See also

★ AAdvantage

References

1. American Eagle Airlines
2. American Eagle Airlines
3. American Eagle Airlines
4. Directory: World Airlines
5. Deregulation Knockouts, Round One, Tom W Norwood, , , Airways, 1996, ISBN 0-9653993-0-3
6. American Eagle Airlines Embraer Fleet Age

External links

★ American Eagle page at American Airlines website

★ American Eagle Airlines Embraer Fleet Detail