<Page> 70 Exhibit 12 AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC. Computation of Ratio of Earnings to Fixed Charges (in millions) <Table> <Captions> Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended September 30, September 30, 2003 2002 2003 2002 <s> <c> <c> <c> <c> Earnings: Loss before income taxes and cumulative effect of accounting change $(24) $(1,336) $(1,189) $(2,856) Add: Total fixed charges (per below) 377 385 1,138 1,156 Less: Interest capitalized 15 21 50 62 Total income (loss) before income taxes and cumulative effect of accounting change $338 $ (972) $(101) $(1,762) Fixed charges: Interest, including interest capitalized $154 $ 129 $ 450 $ 379 Portion of rental expense representative of the interest factor 220 254 682 773 Amortization of debt expense 3 2 6 4 Total fixed charges $377 $ 385 $1,138 $1,156 Coverage deficiency $ 39 $1,357 $1,239 $2,918 </Table> Note:In April 2001, the Board of Directors of American approved the guarantee by American of AMR's debt obligations. As of September 30, 2003, American has issued guarantees covering approximately $936 million of unsecured debt and approximately $503 million of secured debt. The impact of these unconditional guarantees is not included in the above computation.