Fort Worth, TX (Monday, January 23, 2006) - American Airlines today announced that it will provide transportation for teen patients from Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children (TSRHC) who are attending the hospital's 25th Annual Amputee Ski Trip. AA.com, the American Airlines Web site, donated transportation for the teens, their medical staff and chaperones, and enabled the group to spend a week at the National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD), in Winter Park, Colo.

"American Airlines is proud to be a supporter of Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, an organization that has a very special impact on our community," said Bella Goren, Vice President of Interactive Marketing and Reservations at American Airlines. "We are truly honored to be working with the hospital's outstanding staff and these amazing young people, and we know that this opportunity will create lasting memories for all of them."

In a continuing effort to improve the lives of patients, TSRHC found that skiing is well suited for amputees, and with special equipment they quickly become competitive and often excel at the sport. Each year the hospital takes a group of teenagers to Winter Park to learn to ski.

"I am certain that although these kids have each faced challenges beyond their years, none of them will return unchanged in some positive way by this experience," said Don Cummings, TSRHC director of prosthetics. "I can make a leg and get them up and walking again but I can't heal the spirit. The ski trip lets them heal in a way that we couldn't duplicate."