American Eagle is a commuter subsidiary of American Airlines, operating from hubs in Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago-O'Hare, Miami, Los Angeles, New York-JFK, Boston-Logan, Raleigh-Durham, and San Jose. (American's other hub, St. Louis, is served by American Connection rather than American Eagle.)

American Eagle flies to destinations in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Its subsidiary Executive Air flies to destinations in the United States, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean, primairly from San Juan. Their fleet is composed of Bombardier and Embraer regional jets, and the Saab SF 340. Executive Air uses the Aerospiatle Super ATR and the Aerospiatle ATR.

American Eagle's flights from Los Angeles International Airport are codeshared by Continental Airlines, and are under the Delta Connection name for Delta Air Lines.

History

American Eagle was conceived in the mid-1980s as a collection of regional carriers with contracts to carry the American Eagle brand name. The first of these was Command Airways (or Command airlines) and was based at Dutchess County Airport in Wappinger, New York. The operation there included a maintenance facility. Other carriers included Avair , Simmons Airlines , and Flagship Airlines . In the mid-1990s, these carriers were purchased by American and combined to form American Eagle Airlines. Executive Air was not merged into American Eagle, and it still provides American Eagle service by contract, although it is wholly owned by American Eagle.

The airline suffered two fatal crashes during 1994. In October an ATR-72 aircraft crashed during a snowstorm near Roselawn, Indiana, killing all 68 people aboard. In December a commuter plane crashed while landing at Raleigh, North Carolina, killing 15 people.