American employees keep flag design for aircraft tail

American Airlines announced (02-Jan-2014) 60,418 of its 100,000 staff have voted on the new aircraft livery with the flag tail design first unveiled in Jan-2013 to represent the carrier. American Airlines Group CEO Doug Parker, in a letter to employees, explained: "The votes are in. After three weeks, much conversation and more than 60,000 employees voting, we now have an answer to the question about what will be painted on the tails of our aircraft. It was very close but the majority has spoken and the new flag tail will proudly represent American Airlines - and all of us - for years to come". He continued, "As I said early in this process, I was indifferent as to which option we chose, I just wanted you to be able to choose. Now that the votes are in, I'm really pleased to have a firm decision we can all embrace. This is the airplane we will fly as we restore American to the greatest airline in the world -- and that is exciting". He added: "It is particularly exciting to see how engaged our team was in this decision. Consistent with our imperative to Engage Our Employees, we took the unprecedented step of asking our team members to choose our livery, and a phenomenal 60% of you participated. We of course can't vote on every decision at the airline, but we do want input from all of you on issues that are important to your work lives. This turnout proves what we already knew: we have team members who care a lot about American Airlines and its future. That is a great asset and we look forward to hearing and learning more from you all as we move forward". On the process moving forward, he noted: "It will take us many months to paint the 580 US Airways aircraft and those aircraft will be the priority which means the remaining classic Silverbirds will still be flying for some time. Also, as previously announced, we intend to have heritage aircraft in our fleet going forward, so the AA livery will remain in our system even after all of the fleet has been painted". [more - original PR]