American Airlines 1998 Annual Report Download - page 6

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of which we expect will have been sold by the end of the
first quarter in 1999 — are all viable companies with
good prospects for success, but their activities, in our
view, were non-strategic, or not fundamental to meeting
our four key objectives.
When it comes to setting and meeting objectives
for our company, there are three groups of people we
keep in the front of our minds: AMR’s customers,
employees, and of course, our shareholders. Clearly, as
the company’s managers, it is our duty to reward our
shareholders by producing the best financial results pos-
sible. However, in any service business, the best way to
ensure a satisfactory level of profitability is to attract the
largest possible share of the market — and in particular,
the higher paying customers who demand outstanding
service. Thus, to take care of the shareholders, we must
first take care of our customers.
At the same time, the quality of any airline’s
product is greatly dependent on the performance of its
people. We have to make sure our people are focused,
motivated, enthusiastic and enjoy their work. Thus, in
order to take excellent care of our customers, we must
take care of each other.
Doing our jobs well means constantly trying to
balance the needs of all three constituencies, and it is a
real challenge. But I hope you will find, as you read the
following essays, that we made significant progress in
1998 with regard to all three groups.
For our shareholders, we delivered, among other
things, record earnings, a two-for-one stock split, and an
aggressive share repurchase program. For our customers,
we improved the quality of our products by strengthen-
ing our network, upgrading our fleet and offering a
myriad of other enhancements. And for our employees,
we distributed an industry-record profit-sharing fund
and forged a renewed commitment to building the
industry’s best corporate culture.
In the pages to come, you will read about these
initiatives and a lot more, and as you do so, I hope it
becomes clear that the creation, enhancement and
preservation of value for our shareholders, customers
and employees is the impetus behind everything we do
— whether it’s buying back stock, building the industry’s
premier airline network, investing in new aircraft and
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