American Airlines Group, Inc. (AAL) Wednesday received a single operating certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for American and US Airways, marking a major milestone in the integration of the two airlines.
"Achieving a single operating certificate is an important step toward becoming a fully integrated airline and the effort to reach today's milestone touched nearly every area of our company," said Robert Isom, American's Chief Operating Officer.
The FAA's approval for American and US Airways to operate under one certificate is the culmination of more than 18 months of work aligning the carriers' operating policies and procedures.
Beginning today, most flight operations, maintenance and dispatch procedures will be identical for all flights. Air traffic control communications will refer to all American and US Airways flights with the call sign "American."
The FAA's recognition of American as a single operator does not mean change for customers, who will continue to check in for their flights on aa.com, usairways.com, or at American or US Airways ticket counters until later this year when American moves to a single reservations system.
Since American and US Airways merged in December 2013, the airline has been making steady integration progress.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com