History of an American Company
Over five thousand feet above the ground and not falling! The pilot's voice comes though the speakers "look out the window and see a bird's eye view of The Grand Canyon." An airplane is flying, and odds are it may be American Airlines, as it was the largest airline in the world, until recent economic hardships (Fleming, Arlene). American Airlines just like any other company started out small and grew. In order to become a large provider to the whole world they began buying other smaller airline companies and using their facilities and planes. But it wasn’t easy, working their way up to the top, and as they found out, it's not easy staying at the top, that’s where it gets interesting.
Charles A. Lindbergh, at the time chief pilot of Robertson Aircraft Corporation of Missouri, was the second of many aviation companies to hold a U.S. airmail contract. It was one of the first set of companies that would eventually be bought out to form today's American Airlines. The dealings began in 1929, when American Airlines began to acquire young aviation companies, including Robertson. In 1930, The Aviation Corporation's airline union was renamed American Airways, Inc. and changed again in 1934, when American Airways became American Airlines, Inc. "Airline Tickets and Airline Reservations from American Airlines".
On May 13, 1934, Cyrus Rowlett Smith became president of American, except for a period during World War II. By the end of the 1930s, American was at the top of the nation's domestic air carrier. On Feb. 16, 1937, American carried its one-millionth passenger. American Airlines, Inc. did not face notable hardships until World War 2, when the U.S. government forced them to hand over half of their fleet and crew to carry military men and supplies overseas. The remainder of the crew, surprisingly, flew the increased demand for flights within the U.S. "Airline Tickets and Airline Reservations from American Airlines".
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