CNBC documentary: One Week Inside American Airlines
 

CNBC is planning to show this October 18, 2006 at 9 pm ET, and an encore on October 22 at 9 pm ET.

http://www.aweekinthelife.cnbc.com/main.html

During one intense week, CNBC cameras capture a side of American Airlines that travelers never see: the minute-by-minute drama inside the control tower; the split-second decisions made on the flight deck; the corporate maneuvering behind the closed doors of the executive suite.

With exclusive access, veteran TODAY show travel editor Peter Greenberg reveals the secrets of the industry:


-The strange science of ticket pricing.
-Why frequent fliers have a hard time cashing in miles.
-How a tense labor-management truce has held bankruptcy at bay.
-Why the cargo hold is gold to the airline, but a potential threat to its passengers.
-How, in the wake of 9/11, pilots and flight attendants must now train to defend the cockpit.

Experience one stormy night in Dallas -- as workers struggle feverishly to cope with bad weather and in-flight mechanical problems in an effort to keep passengers safe and planes on schedule. And watch as maintenance workers rip apart a jetliner -- down to its bare skin -- and put it all back together again, to make sure that it is safe to fly.

Against a backdrop of global political uncertainty, volatile fuel prices and cutthroat competition, the nation's airlines are navigating cloudy skies.

With more than 4,000 flights a day....and nearly 2 million passengers a week...how does American Airlines do it?

Fasten your seat belts. Once you've seen the extraordinary view from the cockpit, you'll never look at air travel the same way again.

Dick Karl flew with Les Abend the past 2 flying issues....