A single operating certificate has been granted to American Airlines and US Airways in a move described as a “major milestone” in the integration of the two carriers.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s approval for American and US Airways to operate under one certificate is the culmination of more than 18 months of work aligning the carriers’ operating policies and procedures.
Most flight operations, maintenance and dispatch procedures will now be identical for all flights.
Passengers will continue to check in for flights on aa.com, usairways.com, or at American or US Airways ticket counters until later this year when the combined airline moves to a single reservations system.
The two airlines merged in December 2013 and have been working on a massive integration progress since.
This has included inducting US Airways into the Britsih Airways-backed Oneworld alliance, merging separate frequent flyer programs into the single AAdvantage scheme and reaching five-year joint collective bargaining agreements with pilots and flight attendants.
American’s chief operating officer, Robert Isom, said: “Achieving a single operating certificate is an important step toward becoming a fully integrated airline and the effort to reach today’s milestone touched nearly every area of our company.
“While today marks a significant milestone for our integration, there is still much that remains ahead and we will intensify our focus on moving to a single reservations system and website and combining our frontline employee workgroups.”