Simmons Airlines will be acquired by AMR...

Simmons Airlines will be acquired by AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines, for $78 million in cash. Simmons flies as an American Eagle feeder airline in the Great Lakes region and operates about 350 weekday flights from 34 airports in seven states. It has 38 aircraft and last year carried about 1.7 million passengers. It was founded in 1978 and is the nation’s fourth-largest regional airline. American established its American Eagle feeder network in 1984 and now has seven commuter partners. Of these, it is currently in the process of buying part or all of five of them, including Command Airways in Wappinger Falls, N.Y., and Wings West of San Luis Obispo.