On Dec. 17, 2002, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services lowered its senior unsecured debt ratings for AMR Corp. (BB-/Negative) and unit American Airlines Inc. (BB-/Negative) but affirmed other ratings for those entities (see list). The rating actions reflect reduced asset protection for unsecured creditors as secured debt and leases increase as a proportion of the capital structure and heavy losses erode equity. The rating changes do not indicate a changed estimate of default risk, but rather poorer prospects for recovery on senior unsecured obligations if the affected airlines were to become insolvent. Accordingly, no corporate credit ratings or other types of debt are affected; airport revenue bonds, though often senior unsecured debt in a legal sense, are related to a
