American Airlines Expands Video and Audio Options for Premium Passengers on Transcontinental Flights; Entertainment Media Player Test to be Conducted on MD80s

Transcontinental First and Business Class Customers Get Complimentary

On-Demand Access to Movies, Music and More; LA-Chicago MD80 Passengers

Participate in Test

    FORT WORTH, Texas, May 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Airlines,
 the world's largest airline and founding member of the global oneworld(R)
 Alliance, announced today it is providing new in-flight personal
 entertainment media players that offer free on-demand video and audio
 options for passengers in its premium-class cabins on transcontinental
 flights. Additionally, American will begin conducting an entertainment
 media player test on some of its MD80 aircraft that fly between Los Angeles
 and Chicago.
     (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070501/DATU034-A
               http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070501/DATU034-B )
     The introduction of the media players on transcontinental flights on
 May 1 is part of American's plan to invest in the customer experience for
 passengers flying in the First Class and Business Class cabins and to
 continue to bolster the airline's competitive position. Passengers this
 month will begin seeing the new personal entertainment media players on
 Boeing 767-200 and 767-300 aircraft flying transcontinental routes between
 New York and Los Angeles and between New York and San Francisco. In
 addition, the media players will appear on 767-300 aircraft on the
 Miami-San Francisco route in June.
     "We've seen the popularity of personal entertainment media players
 continue to grow over the last few years, and we brought this same concept
 onboard our transcontinental flights to continue to improve the overall
 customer experience," said Lauri Curtis, Vice President -- Onboard Service
 at American Airlines. "Now customers can have complimentary on-demand
 access to movies, music and television all in one handheld media player in
 our First Class and Business Class cabins."
     Transcontinental First Class and Business Class passengers will view
 programming on media players with seven-inch, touch-screen monitors. Each
 customer can easily place the portable unit for the best view possible.
 Customers also receive Bose(R) QuietComfort(R) 3 Acoustic Noise
 Cancelling(R) headphones to complete their audio or video sound experience
 while onboard the aircraft. The system offers up to 12 feature films, up to
 15 hours of pre- loaded television, news programs and music videos, 50
 music CDs, and 14 American Airlines-branded audio channels.
     Also beginning on May 1, American will conduct a four-month test using
 a similar personal entertainment media player on eight MD80 flights that
 operate daily between Los Angeles and Chicago. The test is scheduled to
 last until Aug. 31. Passengers flying in First Class will be offered the
 product for free. Economy Class passengers will be able to rent the media
 players.
     The portable entertainment media players on the MD80 feature a 4.3-inch
 monitor along with new complimentary high-quality earbud headsets.
 Passengers will be able to choose up to five feature films, more than three
 hours of a variety of television programming, up to two hours of the
 Cartoon Network, music videos, 50 music CDs, and 14 American
 Airlines-branded audio channels.
     "We believe our passengers on the MD80 test will provide us with
 valuable feedback about the entertainment product's capabilities and its
 quality, content and value," Curtis said. "We'll use this feedback as we
 evaluate whether or not to provide these media players -- or something
 similar to them -- on the rest of our MD80 fleet in the future."
     American's fleet of aircraft has received various upgrades over the
 past two years and will continue to do so. Information about American's
 aircraft upgrades is available at
 http://www.aa.com/content/amrcorp/pressReleases/2007_04/24_upgrades.jhtml .
     About American Airlines
     American Airlines is the world's largest airline. American, American
 Eagle and the AmericanConnection(R) airlines serve 250 cities in over 40
 countries with more than 4,000 daily flights. The combined network fleet
 numbers more than 1,000 aircraft. American's award-winning Web site,
 AA.com, provides users with easy access to check and book fares, plus
 personalized news, information and travel offers. American Airlines is a
 founding member of the oneworld(R) Alliance, which brings together some of
 the best and biggest names in the airline business, enabling them to offer
 their customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide on
 its own. Together, its members serve more than 600 destinations in over 135
 countries and territories. American Airlines, Inc. and American Eagle
 Airlines, Inc. are subsidiaries of AMR Corporation ( AMR).
 AmericanAirlines, American Eagle, AmericanConnection, AA.com and We know
 why you fly are registered trademarks of American Airlines, Inc.
                  AmericanAirlines(R)  We know why you fly(R)
 
          Current AMR Corp. releases can be accessed on the Internet.
                        The address is http://www.aa.com
 
 

SOURCE American Airlines, Inc.