American Airlines honored more than 400 team members celebrating at least 45 years of service and 35 or more years for pilots due to the mandatory retirement age. These special team members’ tenure with the airline amounts to more than 11,000 years of combined experience.
Team members — many of whom started their careers together — reunited to recognize their colleagues during a black-tie dinner at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas. The night was filled with dancing, laughter, and storytelling.
“Team members in attendance have met religious leaders, astronauts, Supreme Court justices, presidents, musicians and more through their work experiences,” said American’s Chairman and CEO Doug Parker. “You have built this airline to what it is today. We stand on your shoulders, and we all will continue the legacy you have created.”
This year’s honorees began their careers with 11 different heritage carriers, including Air Cal, Allegheny, American, Eastern, Empire, Mohawk, Ozark, Piedmont, Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA), Trans World Airlines (TWA) and USAir. More than 280 honorees and their guests attended the special event, which included live entertainment from Motown legend Martha Reeves. More than 400 team members met the impressive threshold.
“I’ve had a wonderful 40 years at American,” said CLT-based Capt. David Wagoner. “I met my wife, a former flight attendant, thanks to this career. We traveled the world and instilled that love of travel in our daughters. My youngest is currently in Europe, and I will get the honor of flying her back from Munich next month.”
We traveled around the American network to learn more about three other team members and their careers at the airline.
American Airlines offers customers 6,800 daily flights to more than 365 destinations in 61 countries from its hubs in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Washington, D.C. With a shared purpose of caring for people on life’s journey, American’s 130,000 global team members serve more than 200 million customers annually. Since 2013, American has invested more than $28 billion in its product and people and now flies the youngest fleet among U.S. network carriers, equipped with industry-leading high-speed Wi-Fi, lie-flat seats, and more inflight entertainment and access to power. American also has enhanced food and beverage options in the air and on the ground in its world-class Admirals Club and Flagship lounges. American was recently named a Five Star Global Airline by the Airline Passenger Experience Association and Airline of the Year by Air Transport World. American is a founding member of oneworld®, whose members serve 1,100 destinations in 180 countries and territories. Shares of American Airlines Group Inc. trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol AAL and the company’s stock is included in the S&P 500.
