AMR says reviewing ownership of AAdvantage, American Eagle

[Boomer]

"Owned" doesn't mean "free and clear" of debt and liens. It merely means they're not leased. They're owned the way most people "own" their new car: the bank loaned most of the purchase price and kept the title. AA paid cash for many of its 1999-2001 new 738s and 777s but then borrowed billions during 2001-02, granting liens against those airplanes. Recently, AMR has begun paying down that debt.

As indicated at the bottom of p18 of the 2006 AMR 10-K:
That's what secures much of the billions of long-term secured debt issued by AMR during the 2001-02 financial spiral.

At the bottom of p64, AMR said the following about Eagle's debt:
http://www.shareholder.com/aa/EdgarDetail....8&SID=07-00

That's $3 billion of debt on those Eagle RJs, some of which was paid off in the third quarter of this year.

FWAA,
Another note in passing: financed based on ability of the firm to pay is not the same thing as the lease-back and securitization of debt through pass-through notes issued at higher interest rates AA was forced to pay when they created financial instruments to previous, other than aircraft lendors typically doing business in that market, debtors securing debt through granting a BK proof interest in AA wholly owned metal.