STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Enduring one of the more turbulent markets in memory, PLANSPONSOR's Corporate Plan Sponsor of the Year has combined a bottom-line focus with a top-down commitment to its long-term pension obligations.

For American Airlines, a slow-and-steady approach to investments - and a relentless focus on its pension commitment to its workforce - has allowed the company to maintain defined benefit pension plans for its 133,000 participants, amidst an industry where many of its competitors have abandoned these plans.

"Like many plan sponsors - particularly those in the airlines industry - American Airlines had its pension commitments threatened by extraordinary financial challenges," notes Nevin E. Adams, Editor-in-Chief of PLANSPONSOR magazine. "Despite those challenges, they hung tough while others walked away from those obligations. Early on, they made a commitment to supporting an in-house investment management team that contributed significantly to the performance of their pension portfolio, and who did so with a true focus on the obligations those portfolios had to support. Throughout, the team at American Airlines has demonstrated the innovative approach and commitment to excellence in process and result that has earned them recognition as Plan Sponsor of the Year."

"If you look at how we have been managing our assets and contributing to our pension plans, you will find a somewhat different story than in the rest of the industry," says Jeff Brundage, Senior Vice President of Human Resources at American Airlines. "While many of our industry peers have not lived up to their commitments, American's management and employees have worked together to build a stronger company that is more capable of meeting its obligations. This is our core thinking."

As detailed in the cover story of the February issue of PLANSPONSOR magazine, American Airlines was a trailblazer in liability-driven investing, and over the years got in early to international investing and private-equity deals. "There is this notion now that defined benefit plans are, by definition, bad," says Gerard Arpey, Chairman, President, and CEO of AMR Corp., the parent company of American Airlines. "The costs of defined benefit plans are largely a function of how good a job you do of managing the plans," Arpey said in a January interview with PLANSPONSOR. Arpey also cited the airline's financial improvement in recent years as a major factor in its ability to continue to contribute to its employees' defined benefit pension plans.

American's efforts to safeguard its pension plans also depend greatly on the investment management skills of its American Beacon Advisors investment management team that currently oversees $58 billion in assets - less than half of which belong to the American Airlines programs.

"Our long-term value approach to investing focusing on risk control has served our plans well in both good and bad times," said Bill Quinn, Chairman and CEO of American Beacon Advisors. "We also need to give credit and thanks to those members of Congress who passed the Pension Protection Act of 2006 for giving us the opportunity to maintain our defined benefit plans, and we look forward to continuing to work with them to ensure all airlines are treated similarly in funding these pension obligations in the future."

"America's workforce faces some daunting challenges in the years to come," notes Adams. "It is a pleasure to be able to acknowledge the efforts of plan sponsors such as American Airlines in helping them prepare for a financially secure retirement."

American Airlines will be honored as Corporate Plan Sponsor of the Year at PLANSPONSOR's annual Awards for Excellence banquet on March 29, 2007, at Pier 60, Chelsea Piers, in New York City.

About the Award

Each year, the editors of PLANSPONSOR magazine, the industry's leading resource for pension and benefits related news, choose a plan sponsor that demonstrates leadership in providing a more secure retirement for workers. Previous recipients have included IBM; the United Methodist Church; Gary Amelio, Executive Director of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board; David Bronner, Head of the Retirement Systems of Alabama; the FDNY Pension Fund; and General Motors Asset Management's Allen Reed.

About PLANSPONSOR

PLANSPONSOR magazine is the nation's leading authority on retirement issues. PLANSPONSOR.com provides comprehensive news and commerce services dedicated solely to helping employers and financial advisers navigate the complex world of retirement plans on behalf of their employees or clients. For more information, see www.plansponsor.com.

PLANSPONSOR is headquartered at 1055 Washington Blvd., Stamford, CT 06901