AMR Corporation is under pressure from an Icelandic investor group which is one of the largest shareholders (the second shareholder after with over 9 percent of the company to spin off its frequent-flier program dubbed AAdvantage. AMR Corporation is the parent company of American Airlines.

Reykjavik-based FL Group said through its Chief Executive Hannes Smarason that American Airlines' AAdvantage program, which is the largest and oldest such program, should be spin off for at least $4 billion and the revenue should be turned over to shareholders. Smarason owned Icelandair, had a 17 percent stake in European discount carrier Easyjet and now owns a 25 percent stake in Finnish airline Finnair.

Hannes Smarason sent an overnight letter to AMR Corp. Chief Executive Gerard Arpey which reads, "We urge AMR to commit to a strategic review to monetize AAdvantage's value for shareholders." "They've got all these great things under their umbrella but no one really knows what they are or what they're worth," he said by phone. "This is why we're out there beating the drums," he further said in a telephone interview with MarketWatch.

FL Group wants AMR to give away AAdvantage in a slow, controlled spin-off in which original and new shareholders would own shares. The AAdvantage frequent-flier program is allegedly worth at least $6 billion and a sale could produce a net gain of $4 billion for the airline's owner, AMR. All of AMR shares are currently evaluated at about $5.5 billion.

The frequent flier programs get revenue by selling miles to third parties such as credit-card companies and hotels.

AMR Corporation had revenue of more than $22 billion in 2006. AMR Corporation's, and American Airlines', Chairman, President, and CEO is Gerard Arpey. AMR has seen a 47 percent drop in its stock price since mid-January.