American Airlines announced that the FAA granted the airline a single operating certificate.
The airline began flying under the single operating certificate and call sign “American” at 7:00 a.m. GMT and all flights previously scheduled under the AWE (Cactus) call sign used by US Airways until now will operate using AAL (American).
American Air Carrier Certificate AALA025A was temporarily issued with both “American Airlines” and “US Airways” because American will continue to operate flights for the time being under the US Airways brand until other aspects of the operation, including reservation systems, have been merged.
Most flight operations, maintenance, and dispatch procedures will be identical for all flights, regardless of whether they are American or US Airways.
The certificate was issued with the proviso that the single operating certificate be “appropriately amended” once the two airlines are fully merged and only one corporate entity remains.
The achievement in obtaining the certificate “is an important step toward becoming a fully integrated airline” said Robert Isom, the company’s chief operating officer, adding that “there is still much that remains ahead” to complete the integration, including the move to one reservations system and combining employee workgroups such as flight attendants and pilots.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)