American Airlines, in the midst of a dramatic turnaround following bankruptcy and years of losses, has announced more than $2 billion in upgrades, including fully reclinable first-class seats on certain flights.
Expanded Wi-Fi, in-flight entertainment and snazzy new lounges for preferred customers are among other improvements aimed at winning new customers and keeping up with rival Delta Airlines.
Only a year ago, American was emerging from Chapter 11 having completed its game-changing merger with US Airways. American shares have soared since then, as investors cheered record quarterly profits and an unexpected share buyback.
With fuel costs in free fall, American has decided that now is the time to spend billions on improving its reputation among passengers.
"Now that we have the network to compete globally, we're going to deliver a product that's better than our competitors," said Doug Parker, American Airlines chairman and CEO. "Refreshed cabins and clubs, modernized ticket counters, improved technology and new aircraft are further examples of how American is 'going for great."
American Airlines has reported record earnings for each quarter of 2014, but a closely-watched measure of airline performance shows American has lagged behind international rival Delta and domestic competitors JetBlue and Southwest.
The latest Airline Quality Report had American ninth among U.S. fliers, while Delta and JetBlue made the top five.
However, on-time performance receives the most weight in Airline Quality Report's formula, and American is primed to improve on those figures with the introduction of nearly 200 new planes over the next two years.
All passengers will see improvements at the airport, including new charging stations for electronic devices and hundreds of new kiosks that should remedy big lines at check-in.
Once on board, fliers will be treated to healthier food options, expanded Wi-Fi service, and power at every seat on new wide-body jets. American will also be retrofitting some older Boeing and Airbus jets.
Looking to entice big spenders, every First Class and Business Class seat on nearly all wide-bodies will feature fully lie-flat and direct aisle access seats.
American Airlines generated $11.14 billion in revenue in the third quarter, up 4.4 percent year over year, and also announced a $113 million stock buyback.
"We anticipate we will also post a record profit for both the fourth quarter and full year 2014," said CEO Parker.
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May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.