Join the Chamber Ambassadors for a Ribbon Cutting with CR Smith Museum!

The CR Smith Museum celebrates the history of American Airlines and educates visitors about airline operations by letting them step behind the scenes. Through its activities, the Museum serves schools, the public and American Airlines team members.

The Museum is dedicated to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education with a particular focus on developing pathways into aviation careers for underserved youth.

The American Airlines CR Smith Museum is named for the innovative aviation pioneer, industry legend and revered former President of American Airlines, Cyrus Rowlett (“C.R.”) Smith. The Museum opened on July 3, 1993, as the culmination of a two-and-a-half-year fundraising and building effort led by American Airlines executives and team members.

The signature piece of the Museum is a retired 1940 Douglas DC-3, the aircraft that was developed based on C.R.’s vision and that revolutionized commercial air travel. In 1999, a custom hangar was added to the Museum to house the DC-3 and protect it from the elements. The “DC-3 Hangar” was made possible by the fundraising efforts of the DC-3 Coalition, a volunteer group that sold engraved “memory bricks”. To this day, over 8,000 memory bricks have been installed in the Museum hangar with engraved messages commemorating community members, aviation industry milestones and more.

A comprehensive redesign in 2018 allowed the Museum to reopen with a new interactive permanent exhibition, developed with input from American Airlines team members, that explains the inner workings of airline operations and showcases the people who run American Airlines every day.

We welcome all to attend to this exciting event!