Please give a brief overview of American Air?

American Air is a family business established approximately 40 years ago. The company specializes in light vehicle, medium duty and heavy truck air conditioning systems. Our mission is to provide technical support to our distributors and service workshops, also making available all the equipment, service tools, and spare parts they may need.

How did American Air become involved in the mining industry?

American Air realized that there was a lack of local suppliers, knowledge and expertise with regard to air conditioning within the mining industry. Given our staff of qualified technicians, we saw a need in the mining market and we started supplying the industry with our products and aftersales support. We were one of the first air conditioning companies to start supplying the mining industry in Chile.

What products and services does American Air provide to the mining industry?

American Air has a complete line of compressors, evaporators, condensers, expansion valves, accumulator filters and everything that the industry of mobile air conditioning needs in one stop. We also have the components to remanufacture compressors and tailor-made hoses for any model of vehicle included in our inventory. Also, we develop and build air conditioning units for standard and special types of duties. We have the highest standards in compressor repair, and we can guarantee the best reconditioning service to our customers. OEM parts are, as a rule, present in our inventory, which we provide to the automotive and heavy machinery sectors. We both distribute products and tailor make products our self.

Does the emergence of the electric vehicle market provide new opportunities for American Air?

With the emergence of the electric vehicle market, changes are happening quite rapidly. The challenge is that there is not enough qualified people in the industry to be prepared for this rapid change, so we are developing the most automated AC unit that will require minimum work on installation and maintenance.

How do fluctuations in commodity prices affect American Air’s ability to price products?

American Air has good margins on specific items such as our compressors. This is the core of our business. We are thus able to absorb some of the fluctuations in commodity prices. We source approximately 90% of our products from the US and 10% from Asian countries. We have very good relationships with our suppliers and can use the credit that they extend to us instead of using bank credit.

Do you have a final message for our international readership?

American Air places emphasis on education and the transference of knowledge. We believe that the more people we can educate, the better it is for the air conditioning field. Our objective is to keep growing our business and continue to be the leading supplier within our field. We are in the process of developing predictive maintenance systems for air conditioning units and hope to have these systems built and launched by 2020.