AMR Corporation Plans to Divest American Eagle
Wednesday November 28, 2:00 pm ET
FORT WORTH, Texas, Nov. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines, Inc., today announced that it plans to divest American Eagle, its wholly-owned regional carrier. AMR, which has been engaged in an ongoing strategic value review process, believes that a divestiture of American Eagle is in the best interests of AMR and its shareholders and will be beneficial to American, American Eagle, their employees, and other stakeholders.
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The divestiture of American Eagle is intended to provide it with the structure, incentives and opportunities to win new business and provide new opportunities for American Eagle's employees. AMR also believes that the divestiture will enable American to focus on its mainline business, while ensuring American's continued access to cost-competitive regional feed. Once the two airlines are separated, it is expected that they will operate pursuant to a mutually beneficial air services agreement under which American Eagle will continue to provide American with regional flying of a scope and quality comparable to that provided prior to the separation and on terms that reflect today's market for those services.
AMR continues to evaluate the form of the divestiture, which may include a spin-off to AMR shareholders, a sale to a third party, or some other form of separation from AMR. The company expects to complete the divestiture in 2008; however, the completion of any transaction and its timing will depend on a number of factors, including general economic, industry and financial market conditions, as well as the ultimate form of the divestiture.
"The decision comes after a careful and deliberate evaluation of the strategy that will best enable us to continue to create value for our shareholders," said AMR Chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey. "We have worked hard over the years to build a regional airline that is fully capable of standing on its own and is well positioned to pursue growth opportunities outside of the AMR corporate structure."
Arpey noted that, in addition to AMR having put in place an independent American Eagle management structure, with a chief executive officer and chief financial officer, American Eagle also has a well-formed operational structure and organization and has produced independently audited financial results for the past several years. Earlier this year, American and American Eagle entered into a new regional flying agreement between the airlines that reflects market-based rates, which ensures that American continues to have access to quality feed on competitive terms. Arpey added that AMR's divestiture of American Eagle and the regional airline's ability to provide quality feed at competitive rates to other carriers, as well as American, will better position American Eagle to compete for new customers and growth opportunities in the future.
American Eagle is a fully developed operating unit providing a full range of regional airline services with excellent employees and a modern fleet. It operates approximately 300 aircraft, with approximately 1,700 daily flights to more than 150 cities throughout the United States, Canada, the Bahamas, the Caribbean and Mexico. In 2007, American Eagle expects to generate annual revenues of approximately $2.3 billion.
The planned divestiture would include both American Eagle Airlines, Inc., which feeds American Airlines hubs throughout North America, and its affiliate, Executive Airlines, Inc., which carries the American Eagle name throughout the Bahamas and the Caribbean from bases in Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico
Wednesday November 28, 2:00 pm ET
FORT WORTH, Texas, Nov. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines, Inc., today announced that it plans to divest American Eagle, its wholly-owned regional carrier. AMR, which has been engaged in an ongoing strategic value review process, believes that a divestiture of American Eagle is in the best interests of AMR and its shareholders and will be beneficial to American, American Eagle, their employees, and other stakeholders.
ADVERTISEMENT
The divestiture of American Eagle is intended to provide it with the structure, incentives and opportunities to win new business and provide new opportunities for American Eagle's employees. AMR also believes that the divestiture will enable American to focus on its mainline business, while ensuring American's continued access to cost-competitive regional feed. Once the two airlines are separated, it is expected that they will operate pursuant to a mutually beneficial air services agreement under which American Eagle will continue to provide American with regional flying of a scope and quality comparable to that provided prior to the separation and on terms that reflect today's market for those services.
AMR continues to evaluate the form of the divestiture, which may include a spin-off to AMR shareholders, a sale to a third party, or some other form of separation from AMR. The company expects to complete the divestiture in 2008; however, the completion of any transaction and its timing will depend on a number of factors, including general economic, industry and financial market conditions, as well as the ultimate form of the divestiture.
"The decision comes after a careful and deliberate evaluation of the strategy that will best enable us to continue to create value for our shareholders," said AMR Chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey. "We have worked hard over the years to build a regional airline that is fully capable of standing on its own and is well positioned to pursue growth opportunities outside of the AMR corporate structure."
Arpey noted that, in addition to AMR having put in place an independent American Eagle management structure, with a chief executive officer and chief financial officer, American Eagle also has a well-formed operational structure and organization and has produced independently audited financial results for the past several years. Earlier this year, American and American Eagle entered into a new regional flying agreement between the airlines that reflects market-based rates, which ensures that American continues to have access to quality feed on competitive terms. Arpey added that AMR's divestiture of American Eagle and the regional airline's ability to provide quality feed at competitive rates to other carriers, as well as American, will better position American Eagle to compete for new customers and growth opportunities in the future.
American Eagle is a fully developed operating unit providing a full range of regional airline services with excellent employees and a modern fleet. It operates approximately 300 aircraft, with approximately 1,700 daily flights to more than 150 cities throughout the United States, Canada, the Bahamas, the Caribbean and Mexico. In 2007, American Eagle expects to generate annual revenues of approximately $2.3 billion.
The planned divestiture would include both American Eagle Airlines, Inc., which feeds American Airlines hubs throughout North America, and its affiliate, Executive Airlines, Inc., which carries the American Eagle name throughout the Bahamas and the Caribbean from bases in Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico