American Airlines tries to update image DAVID KOENIG Associated Press FORT WORTH, Texas - Approaching age 75 and just one year after a near-death experience, American Airlines is looking for a makeover. The largest U.S. airline will launch a series of gently emotional advertisements next week that seek to make flying adventurous instead of just a hunt for the cheapest seat, part of the company's first major new campaign in a decade. American's advertising consultants have jettisoned the old jingle, "Something special in the air," and replaced it with, "We know why you fly." "Our image has been more conservative," says flight attendant Evelyn Caballero, who makes a cameo appearance in one of the spots. "Now we're contemporary, more personal. We're hot." American plans to devote three-fourths of its advertising budget to the new campaign. Officials wouldn't give a figure, but industry agencies estimated the company spent $60 million on advertising last year. The commercials will air on local television in New York and its three hub markets: Chicago, Miami and Dallas-Fort Worth, on cable television, in newspapers and magazines, and on billboards and the Internet. Separate versions were made for Spanish-language television. American decided it needed to polish its image in early 2001, but the terror attacks that year - which included two hijacked American jetliners - delayed plans. American avoided advertising for months, then returned to the airwaves with somber, low-key messages. In the last two years, American's advertising has been prosaic, mostly touting fare sales. Compared to rivals such as Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, which has always used humor in its advertisements, the commercials for Fort Worth-based American seemed dowdy. "There was nothing vitally wrong with our image before," said Dan Garton, the airline's executive vice president of marketing. "If there were anything negative ... they saw us as a little old-fashioned and maybe a little airline-centric as opposed to customer-centric." American has lost $6.7 billion since 2001 and barely avoided bankruptcy last year. Since then, it cut costs sharply and turned small profits in two of the last four quarters. Company officials believe the timing is right for a makeover because many of their rivals are in even worse shape. United Airlines, the second-largest U.S. carrier, is in bankruptcy protection, and No. 3 Delta Air Lines announced Wednesday it would cut up to 7,000 jobs and close its hub in Dallas-Fort Worth. American turned to Irving-based t:m Advertising, part of The Interpublic Group, to craft new broadcast commercials that show a businessman returning home from a successful trip, a young professional woman making a much-dreaded visit to her parents, and an older couple flying to meet their daughter's fiance - whose name the father can't recall. Most are infused with soothing music and gauzy scenes of family, friends and lovers. A few make a bigger deal out of plane travel than the average customer does, such as one that ends, "It's not just a seat on a flight to a place - it's a seat on a flight to your life." "We're trying to make a deeper connection with customers," said Bill Oakley, the advertising agency's creative director. American plans to run the ads until mid-October, then take a break during the height of the election campaign before returning to the airwaves after Nov. 2. Print ads will run in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and other publications. It may be months before American knows whether the campaign has made a difference. Garton said the goal is to lure passengers back from other airlines and show that air travel isn't just a commodity in which price is all that matters. "We're trying to create a brand identification," he said. "There is no $9.99 special here." Roger EWROPS