As the world continues to battle the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, team members at American’s Base Maintenance facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma (Tech Ops – Tulsa) have deployed their talents to produce much-needed personal protective equipment.

Team members from the Plastics Shop at Tech Ops – Tulsa, along with volunteers from the Composite Shop and other maintenance teams, are creating face shields at the Composite Repair Center, which is part of the world’s largest commercial aviation maintenance facility.

“It’s good to be able to contribute to the wellbeing of the country,” said Paul Long, an Aviation Maintenance Technician helping to create the face shields.

True to their efficient nature, Paul and his colleagues found ways to streamline production and increase output once they began making the face shields. Today, the team can produce a face shield in two minutes when all the necessary supplies are available.

The effort began during a call with the White House Office of Public Liaison, which connected American with Stop the Spread, a coalition of CEOs and business leaders working to help support the government’s response to COVID-19. Stop the Spread paired American with Adaptive Energy, an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company with expertise in designing and manufacturing advanced scientific products. Adaptive Energy provided schematics as the team built the first face shield prototypes.

“American is committed to caring for our team members, customers and the communities we serve in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Erik Olund, Managing Director of Base Maintenance. “We’re proud to partner with Stop the Spread and support our team and other heroes on the frontlines of this crisis.”

The Tech Ops – Tulsa team produces approximately 200 face shields in a day, as supplies allow. The face shields will be used by team members performing tasks like temperature checks, and additional shields will be donated to medical facilities in need.

Let Good Take Flight

American Airlines is committed to caring for people on life’s journey and remains dedicated to addressing the needs of different communities affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In cooperation with its generous customers, American has raised more than $2.5 million to support the American Red Cross and its volunteers who are on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Supply kits have been provided to The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City; Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston; and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, to support medical professionals on the frontlines. American provided care packages to military bases to be shared with troops who are quarantined after returning from deployment. As a result of excess inventory due to a reduced flying schedule, American is donating many tons of food to food banks across the country. American team members at multiple locations, including Miami International Airport (MIA), Frankfurt am Main Airport (FRA) and Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW), are sewing masks for their coworkers and members of the community. The airline also worked with the U.S. Department of State to operate 88 repatriation flights to bring more than 8,000 U.S. citizens home from abroad. American collected $1.2 million through UNICEF’s Change for Good program in 2019 and recently allocated $460,000 of those funds to support COVID-19 relief efforts in Latin America. American continues to operate cargo-only flights, transporting necessary supplies, including personal protective equipment, to the frontlines of the COVID-19 effort.