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American Airlines Named One of Nation's 'Top 50 Employers' by Readers of Equal Opportunity Magazine

Posted on: Tuesday, 17 February 2009, 10:09 CST

American Is Only Airline To Make List In 16th Annual Survey

FORT WORTH, Texas, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Airlines said today it is honored by its selection as one of the nation's "Top 50 Employers" by readers of Equal Opportunity magazine in that publication's 16th annual survey. The selection was announced in the winter 2008/2009 issue of the magazine, published this month.

American ranked number 25 on the Top 50 list, the only airline to make the prestigious group. Readers of Equal Opportunity voted for companies they would most prefer to work for or that they believe are progressive in hiring members of minority groups.

Equal Opportunity, the nation's first career magazine for minority college graduates, is read by more than 40,000 members of minority groups, representing students, entry-level workers and professional employees in many career disciplines.

"American is honored and proud to be named one of the country's top 50 employers by readers of Equal Opportunity," said Denise Lynn, American's Vice President - Diversity and Leadership Strategies. "Encouraging and promoting diversity among employees is good for our customers, smart for our business, and perhaps most importantly, the right thing to do as a good corporate citizen."

The top 50 ranking in Equal Opportunity magazine is the latest recognition of American's efforts to encourage diversity and inclusion across all facets of its business. Last year, American was named one of the "Top 60 Companies for Hispanics" by Hispanic Business magazine, one of just two airlines to make the list. American received that designation for the third consecutive year. In addition, for the seventh consecutive year, American received the highest possible score from the Human Rights Campaign, an organization dedicated to promoting and ensuring understanding of gay and lesbian issues through innovative education and communication strategies.

American has a long history of fostering equal employment opportunities for minority employees. In 1963, the airline hired the first African-American flight attendant to fly for a U.S. commercial airline. The first African-American pilot was hired in 1964 and its first female pilot was hired in 1973.

Today, approximately 32 percent of American and American Eagle's domestic employees are minorities and about 40 percent of the two airlines' employees are female.

Diversity efforts at American are guided in part by the company's Diversity Advisory Council, which is comprised of representatives from the 16 Employee Resource Groups at American. Now in its 15th year, the Council helps ensure that American is a good place to work for all employees.

To learn more about American's diversity and inclusion efforts, go to AA.com's "About Us" section and select "Diversity & Inclusion."

About American Airlines

American Airlines, American Eagle and the AmericanConnection(R) airlines serve 250 cities in 40 countries with, on average, more than 3,400 daily flights. The combined network fleet numbers more than 900 aircraft. American's award-winning Web site, AA.com(R), 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 nearly 700 destinations in over 140 countries and territories. American Airlines, Inc. and American Eagle Airlines, Inc. are subsidiaries of AMR Corporation. AmericanAirlines, American Eagle, AmericanConnection, AA.com, We know why you fly and AAdvantage are registered trademarks of American Airlines, Inc. (NYSE: AMR)

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

Source: PR Newswire

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