Relief Flight

Evacuees

On the evening of Sept. 1, in coordination with the Texas Air National Guard, American operated a rescue flight into Beaumont Texas' Jack Brooks Regional Airport. Local residents had been brought to the airport for transport out of Beaumont after the city's water supply had been compromised. Many of the 134 passengers were in compromised health and several had to be hand carried up the aircraft's rear stairs. American team members pulled together to arrange the flight and get evacuees safely out of Beaumont. The flight landed at D/FW around 10:30 p.m. central time and passengers were transported to Dallas-area shelters.

Team Members

On the evening of Aug. 28, American operated a rescue flight to help team members at Houston Intercontinental (IAH) and Houston Hobby (HOU). American dispatched a Boeing 757 from DFW to IAH to deliver more than 14,000 pounds of supplies to our team members. The flight, which returned to DFW, also picked up 28 crewmembers and 12 of our colleagues from Mesa Airlines who had remained in Houston during the height of the storm.

Darrin Pierce, crew chief, Fleet Service, DFW, supervised his team loading the supplies for the rescue mission. Darrin is all too familiar with the devastating effects of a hurricane, as he was a victim of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. 'I lost everything in Hurricane Katrina,' said Darrin, who is from New Orleans. 'There's nothing more valuable to people in need right now than having supplies being given to you. With the water damage, you may not have electricity, clothes, pillows, water. This kind of storm can literally wipe out everything you need. I have a great crew, and we were happy to help get the plane loaded, in the air and off to Houston.'

There are 550 American and Envoy team members living or based in Houston and surrounding areas, including Beaumont and Corpus Christi, Texas and Lake Charles and Lafayette, Louisiana.

Giving

American Red Cross

American's AAdvantage customers and employees have donated more than $950,000 to the American Red Cross to assist in Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. From August 25, 2017 through September 24, 2017, AAdvantage members can earn 10 miles for every dollar donated to the Red Cross with a minimum $25 donation. American is a member of Red Cross's Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) and we commit at the highest level of $1 million annually.

Dallas Cowboys Partnership

After this week's Dallas Cowboys pre-season game with the Houston Texans was canceled, American worked with the Cowboys to donate the cost of the team's charter to both the American Red Cross and Salvation Army.

American Airlines Family Fund

The American Airlines Family Fund exists to help current team members, retirees and their immediate families in times of unexpected crisis. American activated a fundraising effort for its Family Fund and committed to match any donation made by its employees. To date, more than $300,000 has been raised, including the company's match.

Volunteer

Later this week, more than 400 American team members will come together at the company's headquarters to assemble nearly 15,000 personal care kits for evacuees arriving to Dallas area shelters run by American Red Cross.

Operations

'After a Herculean effort by many of our colleagues throughout American, we have resumed operations at Houston Intercontinental and Hobby,' said Donna Paladini, vice president, Stations. 'I can't thank you enough for the outpouring of support for our Houston colleagues. From the nonperishable goods and supplies that were delivered to our team members earlier this week to the generous donations that have been made to Family Fund, we have shown that even during the most challenging situations, we quickly come together to support one another.'

American resumed operations at Houston Intercontinental (IAH) Aug. 31, and Houston Hobby (HOU) Sept. 1. Before the storm impacted the United States, American issue a travel alert for 16 airports in Texas and Louisiana, including both Houston airports. This alert allowed our customers whose travel plans were impacted by Hurricane Harvey to rebook without change fees. Customers were able reschedule their travel on aa.com or by contacting our reservations team. Additionally, customers whose flights did not operate due to the storm are able cancel their reservation and receive a full refund. More details are available on aa.com/travelalerts.

American Airlines Group Inc. published this content on 02 September 2017 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 03 September 2017 00:42:01 UTC.

Original documenthttp://news.aa.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2017/American-Airlines-response-to-Hurricane-Harvey/default.aspx

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