Thomas W. Horton

Horton was born in Hampton, Virginia[4] and spent much of his life in Texas.[5] He has a BBA degree, magna cum laude, from Baylor University and an MBA degree from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University in 1985.[6][7]

Horton began his career at AMR in 1985 as a financial analyst.[4] From 1998 to 2000, he led the airline's International business based in London. Horton was appointed chief financial officer in January 2000.[7]

He left AMR in 2002 to join AT&T as senior executive vice president and chief financial officer.[4] Horton was later appointed AT&T's Vice Chairman. He is credited for helping to create the new AT&T – in 2005, Horton led the evaluation of strategic alternatives, ultimately leading to the combination with Cingular and SBC which formed the new AT&T.[7]

Horton returned to AMR in March 2006 and served as executive vice president – finance and planning and chief financial officer of AMR and American.[7][8][9] In 2008, he was named US top CFO by Institutional Investor magazine. In July 21, 2010, he was named president of the airline.[7][8]

On November 28, 2011, Horton was named CEO and chairman of American Airlines, at a time when it had fallen behind its competitors, who were able to reinvent themselves after declaring bankruptcy.[10] When American's board voted to restructure, they selected Horton to lead American through the process as CEO.[11] He led a team to restructure the company, which entailed restructuring debt, leases, the aircraft fleet, and negotiating labor contracts to result in restored Company profitability and competitiveness.[11]

Simultaneously, Horton led a renewal of American's fleet and product with a landmark aircraft deal—Boeing and Airbus would provide new airplanes to replace the older ones.[12] The deal was the largest aircraft order in history, with 460 new single aisle jets from the two manufacturers and $13 billion in financing. Horton's team led the airline through a re-branding process to extend the company's fleet and product updates to its overall look and feel. The new look showcases a new logo and flag on the tail with "American" in large letters on the silver body of the airplane.[13][14]

With renewed labor contracts, Horton secured a deal for its anticipated merger with US Airways in which AMR creditors and unions own 72% of the new company, and US Airways shareholders own the other 28%.[11] The combined company is called American Airlines Group. US Airways had originally sought a controlling stake in the combined company, though American Airlines was about twice the size of US Airways.[15] Horton and the American team were able to make the deal much more favorable for AMR. Through the restructuring and merger, Horton achieved full recovery for bondholders and, unusually for a bankruptcy process, substantial recovery for equity holders.

The new American Airlines Group is the world's largest airline with 6700 flights per day, with 334 destinations in 56 countries around the world.[16]