Bankruptcy is black mark in American Airline’s history

Associated Press

American Airlines used to bill itself as “something special in the air,” and it was.

It was the first airline to offer curbside check-in. The first with computerized reservations. It invented the frequent-flier program and came up with the deeply discounted Super Saver fare to fill empty seats on its planes.

But it was disastrously behind on one thing — recognizing that its finances were unsustainable.

In the past decade, other airlines cut expenses in bankruptcy reorganizations. American plodded along with high labor costs and aging, gas-guzzling jets. Other airlines found merger partners. American was the awkward kid at the middle- school dance.

American was left with little spare cash to make improvements or take risks. The money ran out, and on Tuesday, the time did, too. American filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

Some of American’s 78,000 workers will almost certainly lose their jobs or have their pay or pensions cut. Its creditors will lose money. And its stockholders will be wiped out. The stock, which traded above $40 in 2007, closed Tuesday at 33 cents.

The bankruptcy filing is a black mark for American, which traces its routes to carrying mail for the government in the 1920s and was, in the decades between, a pioneer in the nation’s skies.