American Airlines, and in particular current Tempe management, is known in the industry for being ‘penny wise and pound foolish.’ The CEO even has a nickname that stems from this first part.
They spend lavishly on aircraft, investing in foreign airlines, and a new corporate headquarters (now supported with $10 billion in taxpayer cash over the last 18 months) while taking short cuts on employee pay and customer experience. And it winds up costing them more money in the long run.
American found ways to keep government money for ‘payroll’ while not paying employees and laying off management staff. They didn’t use government payroll funds to ‘keep employees ready to fly when customers returned’ they simply sent checks and grounded pilots, who weren’t ready to fly when the carrier brought back its schedule this summer, leading to mass cancellations.
One pilot writes me to share that the pilot crisis isn’t over, that most pilots on reserve are covering trips each day because the airline doesn’t have enough crew assigned to operate schedules. Yet when pilots volunteer on their off days to pick up trips because reserve pilots aren’t able to cover the demand, the airline breaks up existing trips into pieces to use reserves (rather than pay pilots a premium to work) and kick the can of the back end of those trips down the road hoping to have enough reserves to cover them later.
It would be one thing if this actually saved money, but they wind up paying out those premium trips anyway. And that seems to be the pattern that repeats across the airline.
They cut first class meal service to align with US Airways standards, and had to bring back meals. They thought they could get away with not putting power into old US Airways planes, before realizing they had no choice. At US Airways they even stalled on adding internet until they literally saw it was costing them ticket sales.
But is there any better example than what they’ve done to their Boeing 737s, the backbone of the American Airlines domestic fleet?
- When Tempe management took over these planes flew up to 150 passengers. They quickly reconfigured to 160 (which meant paying for an extra flight attendant). They went out and found thinner seats and smaller lavatories and squeezed them closer together and managed 172 seats.
- So they took out seatback video. The coach experience isn’t so good. But there’s also fewer extra legroom coach seats to sell, so you’re picking up more marginal passengers at the lowest fares and offering fewer opportunities to upsell them.
- And the first class cabin turned out to be the biggest downgrade, not just less space and less padded seats, but the bulkhead seats were terrible and the seats didn’t even have a tray to hold drinks any longer or a holder for tablets (needed after getting rid of screens). Most importantly, half the seats no longer had under seat storage for carry on bags because of how the seats were bolted to the floor.
- How did this happen? Chief Operating Officer David Seymour says instead of building a cabin mockup to actually see what would become the new standard domestic product for the airline they saved money by “taping it out.” And the whole thing was a disaster.
- American finally realized their best customers were refusing to pay for the first class product, so they had to retrofit first class again, after retrofitting each 737. The Oasis modifications required a “Kodiak” modification. And they were actually installing the Oasis first class seats on 737s that hadn’t been modified yet before ripping out those same seats and doing the second modification.
- Meanwhile when competitors announced free inflight messaging, American announced this too. Then decided not to make the investment (but never retracted its public announcement). And in the end introduced it anyway.
The whole thing wound up losing them money (premium sales) and costing more than if they’d done it right from the start. And after pulling TVs out of all the 737s? United has now committed to TVs at every seat on its domestic fleet, matching Delta, so American may be forced to retrofit again.
Instead of offering a positive vision for a product customers want to fly – an airline with higher costs than many competitors needs to earn a revenue premium – they’ve watched what other airlines have done, and reacted. That costs more and generates less value for the company in the process.
Why is Doug Parker not fired?
Excellent question.
Maybe the Board of Directors is asleep at the switch.
Or else Parker is holding something over their heads ??
In answer to Mike, because he maneuvered himself to be Chairman and CEO, so there is no Board presence to kick him to the curb. I am voting for Akbar Al baker for Chairman of AA, and better yet, the owner. We’d all be a lot better off.
That said, why does AA demonstrate such continued incompetence when it comes to actually running an airline? Clearly Parker isn’t stupid, n.b., he’s still there. But please remember these folk, Parker et al, are corporate engineers. They know how to roll up companies, talk the government into picking up AA pensions, etc, buy back share to pimp their compensation — BUT, they (clearly) don’t know how to run an airline. It will take a major shareholder revolt to turn things around at AA.
I am a long time fan and some time apologist for AA. They are my home town airline (Tempe, back to America West in the 80s) but I have to say they have about worn me out. I am looking for options, which ain’t easy as most of my travel is international.
Gary
Didn’t you write about this like three or four times already or maybe five or six ??
What elsewhere is new?
Doug Parker is American Airlines problem. If there was no merger or Tom Horton stayed on , AA would be a class leader and the pilots wouldn’t be any more or less pissed off then they always are. DP destroyed a great brand, a great American brand wearing the American Eagle. What am F-ing shame
Not much to write considering after all the mergers and acquisitions this was inevitable. Is there any leadership in America? Anywhere? any takers? I could run the airline better. It’s infuriating that stimulus money was wasted with no one held accountable.
Passenger experience has not been a priority, particularly for domestic. International and transcontinental premium service is decent (or at least was pre-COVID) but for those of us that fly lots of mid-cons, the hard product is poor and in-flight service is wildly inconsistent. Fortunately I’m not hub captive, so I have options, which lately means DL. As a longtime EXP, I do hope AA eventually gets it together, but I don’t thing that happens while DP is in charge.
I suggest a change in executive leadership coupled with clawing back any (and it’s a lot) money made from exercising stock options.
Obviously delta paid for this article. Cuz its same.nonsense written over and over. Getting old. Geta life
@ryby…Gary trashes American at least three times a week. It almost seems like a vendetta. I often wonder what they did to him as his venom is way disproportionately spewed toward them.
American has its issues to be sure. But so do United and Delta. Yet the ratio of attack postings against American is very onesided.
Sure, Gary criticizes AA a lot, but come on, AA ***DOES*** suck. For various reasons, I have to alternate between Delta and AA, and Delta is better. Every. Single. Time.
…and I say with absolute sincerity that I wish with all my heart AA were better because they are a much more convenient airline for me to fly.
Exec Platinum here sorely tempted by Delta’s Medallion status challenge. If only the routes I needed were more in line. AA has become the Air Chiba for US domestic travel. Congrats, I guess.
A nice analysis of American’s dysfunctional management. The board keeping Parker is the real head scratcher. They could install competent and responsive management but choose not to do so. While Parker seems a decent guy in private life, if he hasn’t figured out how to run a giant international airline in a capable fashion by now then he’s not going to any time soon.
Gary criticizes AA more because he flies them more.
Have lots of free mikes. Only reason I fly them
@Tom K from Seattle – I cover American Airlines a lot. It’s not my fault that they’ve been doing one thing after another that’s bad for customers, though I point out when they do something positive.
I used to fly AA all the time.
Now I fly Southwest exclusively. Low fares, good service, love the sit anywhere. Not fancy, but a great job of getting me where I need to be. Their employees are fantastic.
@PHILLIP – If you’re going to call it ‘nonsense’ then maybe offer a reason why?
As for the notion that I’m somehow in the tank for Delta, my goodness, I am literally the person who coined the term ‘SkyPesos’ 12 years ago.
They also went cheap by removing the inflight magazine…..1 more touchpoint for the customer that they eliminated.
I flew American a few weeks ago to see my grandchildren. The first flight was AUS to CLT. The flight attendant was amazing! She asked everyone in first class their name and at the end of the flight she gave me a card with my connecting gate with a hand written note that said thank you for flying. I was SO impressed. I walked off the plane thinking that girl was amazing. Fast forward 5 hrs to my flight from CLT to ERI. It was a red eye flight that was delayed. Everyone was tired, we were boarding a smaller plane. I have never experienced anything like these 2 flight attendants. I asked one if she knew the eta into Erie since we were delayed. She called me honey or sweetie (I’m 48 yrs old) and pretty much told me when she knows, I will know..and the pilot will announce it on the intercom. She then proceeded to storm back to the intercom and repeat what she had just screamed to me so she would not have to answer that question again. I never did get the eta. We made it. I had to wait for a ride, I lived.
Overhead lights were on full blast for 1 hr 30min red eye flight..except for the last 15 min, when #1 turned all the lights out on accident. ..and proceeded to apologize to flight attendant #2 who told her to keep them off and got out her flashlight. I don’t even think the running lights were on in the isles. We landed and were at the gate and I think someone behind me stood up before they were supposed too. The attendant in front of me screamed, SIT.DOWN.NOW. I understand that they have a hard job, with people not wanting to keep their masks on, put their phones away or just listen
in general..However, these 2 flight attendants should not have been working on that flight. Clearly, they were both over it and could have cared less about the 50+ souls on board. The pilot was coming out of the cockpit as I was exiting the plane. I made the mistake of telling him that his flight attendants were terrible (scary, really). #1 heard me, I could almost feel the breeze as she spun around (she was about 2 rows back walking the other way) and started screaming, YOU WILL NOT TALK TO ME LIKE THAT and proceeded to keep screaming. I literally just looked at her and looked at the pilot and said, “See?”. I felt like I was being punked. Everyone has a bad day, a long day, sometimes..but wow. That is all I have to say about that. Except that I literally peeked around the corner before stepping on the return flight home, praying that I did not see this flight attendants face.
Gary is rehashing past decisions once again. We have them memorized by now. But the comments prove that AA is valuable. “They are convenient”. Actually, the scheduling and the pricing make trips on AA so much easier than DL.
Regrettably AA is linked to AK Air. So we are sometime forced to fly them. When we can we take BA or any Foreign partner. AA has accepted being inferior and has gone for schedule and price to compete. They gave up on competing with other US low cost airlines. I will pay a bit more and fly at odd times to avoid AA . I am not alone. Shame, short term gain sacrifices for longer term losses
I’ll just repeat what others have said (as I need to let it out): why TF is Parker still in his job? What is wrong with the board? I hate flying AA domestically. Internationally they are no better/no worse than UA (my only comparison from last month). In 2 days I’ll be flying Air Canada internationally. I look forward to the comparison.
How does Parker keep his job? Fire Parker!
There’s a reason he critizes AA. My first class seating retrofit did NOT prevent them from charging for approvedb carry-on pet carrier that did not fit under the seat. Even though it was smaller than average. Then they moved me to the back to economy where the under seat had a bit more space. Still didn’t fit but wouldn’t give me back my front First class seat. I did not even both asking for a refund because I decided to use other airlines. Fire that $%^&*#@.
Parker should have been fired 5 years ago after screwing his employees and retirees.
I’m never gonna be CK so I’m not worth that much to AA but I think I’m finally ready to move to UA with the new year. Star Alliance is better, they’re improving thier product and living in Chicago I have a choice. The changes to the contract of carriage by AA recently really made me think it’s time to go.. I went AWA – US – AA but I think now it’s time to go.
The big guy gotta go! They make stupid decisions. As a 3MM miler. I can’t get over their decision re business class on the oh original 787.
The last row (backwards) was actually 30% in the galley. And on top of the waist cart. I doubt anyone who made this decision had ever flown. Get some experienced decision makers.
What do you expect from formerly USworst Airways?
The Advantage points are only suitable to fly open borders folks. They are desperation flyers
AA Advantage is useless otherwise.
Not long ago it was United (the bad guy). Now American but everyone wants to fly United. Hmmm…
Tom Horton was a lousy CFO and would have made a worse CEO.
His first move when appointed CFO was to cancel AA’s fuel hedges. Right before oil spike to $140/barrel. Realizing his mistake, he instituted it again when oil went down to $70. Oil kept going down to $30.
His two mistakes cost AA over $1 billion and moved the airline much closer to bankruptcy ( perhaps that was his plan all along? ) where he was rewarded by being made CEO.
Personal experience and comment:
Indeed, this is a disaster. CEO DP clearly damaged the image of American Airlines established in 1936. Those people on the west coast probably are more family-oriented with the United. I had a chance to work with Americsn Airlines when JAL made a special prorate for interline tickets. In 1990. The cut-over EDIFACT system mid 990. 1999 March JAL inaugurated the DFW-NRT service with a newly introduced codeshare for both international and domestic flights. It appeared the OneWorld partner was going well with the agreement of PJB, Pacific Joint Business, but American Airline suspended flight 153 from Chicago to Narita Jan 2015. Do they really have an interest operate the Traspac segment? Due to the mechanic labor union dispute, flight 153 had been delayed almost every day, as result Americans lost all the business and transferred to JAL, ANA, or to the United.
Bottom line. They need to replace entire top executive fo bring the traditional American Airlines service.
Once upon a time, there were huge companies that dominated their industries. There was Sears, Kodak, Compaq, K-Mart to name just a few. And then they weren’t.
Companies that grew fat and happy, with management that believed their size and dominance was a barrier to failure. Without the ability to look ahead, to lead, to create, to innovate, those companies and their leadership watched in total bewilderment as newbies surged to the forefront and the empires of the past crumbled like gingerbread houses.
Soon, I predict with confidence that American Airlines will go bankrupt and sold off in parts.
AA management clearly seems to believe passengers are self-loading cargo, cockpit crew are overpaid bus drivers, and they have learned to milk the system to their benefit. Successfully ran off all the long term high quality employees. Three MM mile AA Flyer here. Loyalty means nothing. DP and his cadre will continue gutting the airline, draining the coffers to their benefit while impersonating an airline management team without going to jail.
2 million miler and Ex Plat member here. Since I’m platinum for life now. I will and all others propose that all the business travelers join Alaska MVP since they are One World Member. Accumulate Alaska miles and join Alaska Lounge which has access to Admiral Club. Admirals Club used to be nice necessarily the nicest, but at least it was more exclusive and not crowded. The snack bar has become managed like Golden Corral Buffet now. Free wine and beer has only encouraged more power drinkers to get juiced up. Adm. Clubs in Phoenix is a joke. If people have the chance check out the new Alaska Lounge in Seattle. Does AA not get it what it means to bare the name American and flag carrier?
AA sucks, I took a flight from Dulles to San Diego. Middle flight AC when out in scum class, I sweated for two plus hours, beads dripping off arm and head. I’ve had better flights out of Iraq on a C-130. They finally made an announcement, “yeah, we know it’s hot in back, the AC has gone out.” Just Awful. AA app for in flight anything stopped working just right as we left the ground and never worked.
Very respectfully,
Sweaty Scum class ticket holder
Being an employee with AA for over 21 years, this is the lowest my morals along with my colleagues have been. The company simply DOES NOT LISTEN TO THEIR EMPLOYEES. They know it all, they don’t even consult our opinion. They force their college book theories down our throat and rejects practical experience. So many delays and even after errors are made, they continue to make them because it saves money. But, this was the mistakes of the pilots. US airways bribe the pilots during the merger to allow us airways management to lead the new company and now we all regret this decision. All we can say is HELP!..
Another article stating what all know, American Airlines is a shit operation. Got it.
Gary must be shorting their stock.
I agree. I stopped flying American. I reckon i did close to half a million miles with them. Their strategy send to be let’s find out what’s the lowest quality of service we can get away with (before passengers bolt). So far not working.
Just got off a 3 hr flight with a mask natzi that lol as down right rude with her mask announcement and when addressing anyone she had to about a mask. She was almost threatening with her spill she announced. Worst cabin service ever. Literally felt like cattle in a trailer.
The unions of this company are internally ruining this company! Sick calls are through the roof! Almost like flight attendants and pilots are trying to down the airline just to get more money during contract negotiations!
Note to AA management reading this… Better to just file complete bankruptcy and WIPE out ALL union contracts once and for all! If you don’t want to work someone else will, pilots included!
American Airlines has really gone down hill!
Probably on par with Spirit With a crappy and cheap product and no reliability.
I remember AA employees laughing at United when United hired Scott Kirby to replace Oscar Munoz as CEO.
I’ll bet AA employees are wishing their BOD had been smart enough to choose him over Doug Parker. (I hear everyone at United laughing now) In fact, United doesn’t even consider them competition anymore.
I recently flew AA first class from IAD to St. Augustine via CLT. It was miserable, as expected. I like to avoid AA at almost all cost. (My original reservation on a United flight was changed, which made it impractical for me to stay on United for this trip.) My desire to avoid AA is all because a few years ago they left me stranded in CLT. They blamed it on the “AA computer algorithm, which predicted I would miss my connection.” The employees made it clear to me that 1) they were not responsible because “the computer did it” 2) they weren’t going to do anything for me because “the fine print” allowed them to just abandon me in a connecting city; and, 3) they really did not care. This was the worst I have ever been treated by any business PERIOD I will say, however, flying on any domestic airline these days is pretty much miserable. First of all, anyone in customer service, including those who work for airlines, should quit, if they don’t want to serve customers. As a former Marriott and Continental employee, I can say this. Also, using the pandemic as an excuse for bad/no service is no longer acceptable. Understand that nurses, ems workers, and public safety officers have had a much more difficult time. I have flown about 10 times since the pandemic started. The flight attendant ritual has now become 1) an unpleasant welcome 2) reluctantly provide a soda (if you are lucky) 3) and then the FA runs and hides in the galley playing candy crush for the remainder of the flight – and this is usually the premium cabin experience. So much for the good old days of commercial flight.
Again, i was doing 6 to 8 flights a month since 2004 till cov8d hit.
AA is the worst, pretense (hear CEO comments) costly and really 3rd clqss service. Once in a while you get good crew but that is rare , AND THIS IS BIZ CLASS I AM TALKING ABOUT
We had a 15 hour delay on our recent AA flight. Weren’t even given a cup of water! And service was horrible! Rude, sarcastic and untruthful. Will NEVER fly with them again.
I will gladly fly American Airlines–but only when it’s free. I pretty much exclusively fly them on award tickets. Honestly, they’re a lousy airline. Their employees seem to hate working there, you have to do crazy stuff like call Australia to even get through to someone in customer service to fix broken itineraries which *they* broke. They cancel flights constantly and their IT is completely broken around cleaning up the messes they made, and communication around changes is poor to nonexistent.
I know what I’m getting into when I book an award ticket on them–a lousy inflight product, and probably hassles along with it. But, you get what you (don’t) pay for.
The pilots are complaining but they are the ones that forced through the merger with US Airways that created this dumpster fire because it replaced AA management with the current craptacular team from America West/US Air.
Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it!
I used to work for the real AA and still have friends that do and believe me…This article barely scratches the surface of how badly they have screwed up this once proud airline.
The American Airlines management is an example of how shareholders get screwed. Corporate welfare doesn’t exist in the form of shareholders getting helped out. Shareholders take considerable risk of their capital and don’t get helped out. Corporate welfare exists in the form of corporate management doing a terrible job and keeping their $3-$25 million a year jobs at the expense of shareholders. The boards hardly ever get replaced because the funds which own a big portion of the stock just vote however their proxy advisors tell them. Of course the proxy advisors are rubber stamps for management. We need greater protections for minority shareholder rights. Nearly every action AA management has taken seems to be a breech of fiduciary duty. The Airline went woke and demonizes a huge segment of the population but caters to transvestites who are 1% of the population. The airline management bows down to ridiculous mask and vaccine mandates instead of just ignoring them and saying no. They are complicit.
AA shareholders have suffered because of inept management and it’s not even related to Covid.
AA shouldn’t have taken the payroll support. They made the mistake of not firing everyone who wasn’t needed (everyone except the pilots) and then voiding the union contracts. They could have emerged as a top airline free from union nonsense and without being forced to fly unprofitable routes. For all the trouble, AA loses money on domestic flights. They’d be better selling their domestic operation and do solely international flights from U.S to the Caribbean and Mexico to long haul operations on the 772 or 773 which makes a good profit.
You guys ever fly European Airlines like Lufthansa on short haul? Well then you know whats bad. Not AA
Spot on! You’ve put into words the root of the problem with AAL. Well done.
Parker is aligned with the people that matter, his board and the woke crowd. Screw the business operations of the airline. I feel sorry for AA employees. As consumers it’s easy for us to choose another carrier. As an employee, you’re somewhat stuck. Management does not have your back. You’re on your own to deal with the mess they have made.
You need a hobby.
“Kim, there’s people that are dying.”
Just stop, your bias is showing.
3 MM dying since 1983. AA has sunk to al time low in customer service. You can tell the Difference from the AA employees and US Air.
Phoenix and Philly airport are terrible. Aircraft are loaded like cattle cars, staff hates customers, rude and take power to limit… extension of the pilots authority.
I am still flying but now choosing Delta and Alaska. Still pissed at United never flying them again under any condition. I think the whole us air merger was a disaster, the top management needs to be fired.
AA cancelled on me so much I spent an extra 3 days in hotels waiting to get home. Could have driven faster. Paid for First, got shuffled to economy and reimbursed $180. Never again.
Article is correct. As an EXP, I am finding myself more on Delta lately even though likely not upgraded. Better service. Friendlier employees. Better operation. And the sky clubs as a whole are far superior
Good article. I have been wrestling with AAL customer services for 2 months over dreadful treatment during Bozeman, MT to Albany, NY. Not a customer-friendly airline. Apparently rude staff & poor decisions are due to “weather” . Seriously?
Why am I not surprised, Useless air was a pos back then and in death. Those two airlines shouldn’t of merge. The government should of stopped it. They don’t give a crap about customers or employees. This is not the first time USair did this.
US Air was one of the worst airlines I ever vowed to never fly again. For example, their obnoxious and endless insistence that I sign up for their credit card during one interminable flight left a foul stench in my mouth that 30 barrels of Scope couldn’t begin to wash away. I’m sad that AA decided to adopt US Air’s sad little anti-customer approach, as AA was once my go-to choice for long distance travel. Bad management rots through and through, it seems.
AA is a wreck and I’m glad that I’m not hub captive with them. No wonder so many in Texas are switching to WN or others. It’s a good time for the other mainlines to keep easy-grabbing customers from AA (can’t say poach since they’re speaking nothing from AA, AA is giving customers away)
When C-suite management cannot comprehend that when you treat your employees like they don’t matter ( constantly making them try to make fractured systems and portly designed products work) the customer will feel like they don’t matter. Take a page from the Delta and Southwest playbook and invest in your people. Profits over people are small ( and unsustainable) profits indeed. So very thankful to have retired from 43 years as a flight attendant for AA last year.
AA had so much potential, always. Just in its name itself, it can be the face of our nation in a way. Above the other legacies. But instead this terrible management on mainline and regional wholly owned side has completely destroyed this airline from the greatness it could be. Our customers hate us, our competitors mock us, we have no support in management for anything, our unions do nothing to help us, so many have gotten fired during the pandemic for commuting and the union did nothing on the regional side. Reserve assignments are horrible. Either you sit and don’t work or you are worked to your last breath.
Something has to change.
How does the “Tempe Management” continue to bring down a once great airline? I agree with most of your readers Parker should have been fired years ago.
@ Never Again that foul stench in your mouth comes from the cunnilingus you performed on your ratchet wife.
We, at Delta Air Lines, are “ready when you are!”
AA struggles to become a LCC without having the low costs that are required for success. They are managing to chase away high yield passengers who won’t fly their narrow bodies when they can fly a superior product on competitors. So much so, that partnering Jetblue has decided to distinguish itself when the 2 are code sharing so customers know better what they are getting.
The only AA aircraft worth flying these days are premium service wide bodies and only on competitive routes.
Mr. Woolman, founder of Delta Air Lines, said it best, “Consideration is an extension of safety. It begins with the first contact with our passengers, no matter where this is—reservations, porter, ticket agent or wherever. Make the customer feel special. There’s more to flying than just buying a ticket.” Do we sometimes fail, of course. But we try to learn from our mistakes and correct them. Delta’s management stresses that our success is based on Mr. Woolman’s philosophy of hiring the best people to do the job, paying them a good wage, appreciating their work and treating us with respect. In my years with Delta, I’ve had some issues…every family has issues. But, in the end, the fair treatment of our passengers is a direct result of management’s philosophy of… “stay within the box” but if you must go outside of the box, do what is right and we’ll back you up. The key is “back you up” SouthWest and Alaska both run great airlines because they empower their people to do well. They don’t belittle their employees. Ask any AA employee if they remember when “Dougie” got a DUI or when he told them that they have nothing to do with the company’s profitability. Jerry Grinstein said it best when he told Delta employees that we have everything to do with profitability.
I think you just don’t understand. . AA management is “Woke” and has even given millions of dollars to Marxist hate groups.
And that’s what the the customer really cares about! Right?
What about those crazy fees for seats! We paid about 360 dollars for 8 family. passengers to sit and then they changed schedules and said we would be refunded but we only got a partial refund and had to again spend more money to rebook seats in the back because they blocked the front seats, co sharing ? We have to call the other airline to get seats from 60 to 85 dollars each?
Very out of control on every level, wow never thought I would live to see this mess!
Passenger of AA since 2008.
I agree with this article. I often fly AA it feels like something is missing comparing to flying on UA or DL.
The employees are amazing. I just don’t feel they’re being ran by someone who really cares about them or the product they offer to the flyers.
If AA don’t get their act up with the other type major legacy carriers like DL and UA, it’s definitely going to be in the Spirit and Frontier bracket for sure.
Get it together AA. Nice paint job with a 1980s interior on my last MCO flight. Wake up and smell 2021!!!
I am not in the mix on this story. I fly premium cabins and always choose the best equipment as my schedule is flexible and have only “great” things to say about American Airlines. My path is routine MIA -JFK – MIA and it could not be easier. I’ve flown on Delta and United and do not see a difference. For last few years, I bring my own iPad always with downloaded Netflix. No Brainer really.
I have travelled the seven continents, and all American airlines are the lowest quality in the world.!
Jackson Waterson!
Your comments are DEPLORABLE!
MUST BE A REPUBLICAN!
VIEW FROM A WING, STOP BASHING AMERICAN!
DELTA’S OLD,ANCIENT AIRCRAFT IS NEVER DISCUSSED!
WHY?
TAPED SEATS, DIRTY INTERIORS!
OLD 767,757,717’S
AMERUCAN HAS THE YOUNGEST FLEET AND efficient HUB SYSTEM.
I SEE VIEW FROM A WING WITH DELTA TIES!
CAN WE SAY “INFLUENCER’S”
Not even a real First Class seat on a 777-300ER JFK-MIA gave a better experience than basic economy on a Delta A321 on the return.
The AA “Flagship” was dark, filthy, no offer of a 3 prong headset and a choice of ick and ick for the meal.
What does flying have to do with politics?
Spot on article…. as a travel nurse I used AA exclusively as I would fly home about once a month. At first they were phenomenal….here as of late it’s canceled flights or delays resulting in missed connections and a full day of travel when it should be 4-5 hr max. For this reason I have redone my schedule and just drive home now. I get to spend more time with my family as I’m not being shuffled around. Never reimbursed for 1st class seats when they reschedule or cancel either….given a “credit” of basic airfare. Total BS.
As a former tenured employee I’m saddened by seeing how a once great airline, a pioneer in so many ventures (AAdvantage, Sabre Reservations System, Revenue Management practices, etc.) is a laggard and has been since the merger with US Airways. American wasn’t perfect but it surely had everything to be the best US Airline. Mediocre leadership is the answer and I’m not alone in pointing at the problem. When you brought solutions to the obvious and many problems, upper managers were afraid of presenting the initiatives if they came from the AA side. Red tape, incompetence, and a broken corporate culture shows in every failure that we as customers face today. I hope that a shake up gets the Tempe management out for the sake of the once great American Airlines.
We all know him with the letters DUI in front of his name!!
@john luffred…nope! Actually this article is SPOT ON about AA.
Did DUI***G PAY you ($50 + a vacation day) for you to write that????
He’s going to drag this company thru the mud and we are waiting…………….
Well its like we say at the airline…you have a motel 6 airline (usair) trying to manage the Westin (American) or the dollar store trying to run Nordstroms just wont work and it ain’t working they usair are taking Americans name and running it into the gutter! Merger was huge mistake! They have totally destroyed AA! Crap ass management! Use to run with united and delta now we run with frontier and spirit!
American ROYALLY screwed me on a RT flight Chicago – Dubai involving British Airways. Allowed me a grand total of 1,500 AAdvantage miles – and DEFENDED it! I have never flown American since. And since then I have flown in excess of 1.5 million miles on Delta. I hope throwing me away as a frequent flyer, with both hands, was worth it, American. You deserve all the hate you’re receiving.
In treatment of customers who give them margin $ and earn status, Delta is the best. The best service in first class and best club bar none.
I have been a Chairman’s Preferred and now EXP for over 15 years. I have been watching AA steadily drive itself into the ground. Many of the FAs try, too many do not. Same with the GAs. Poor leadership translates to a poor product. My question…..where is the Board that is supposed to protect the shareholders. SELL your stock and make them sit up and take notice.
THE BIGGUEST MISTAKE IS THE APPROVAL OF THE MERGER USAIRWAYS/LEGACY AA AND ALLOWING THEIR MANAGEMENT(US) TAKE CONTROL.THE AA ACTUAL CEO AND TEAM SHOULD BE FIRED…
This article is exactly what is happening. It all comes down to poor management and greed. In the end who gets hurt when AA goes through another bankruptcy, which seems to be the path they are flying down, employees– those of whom should be treated as the most important part of this failing company. Instead, over the years, retirements were stripped away, onerous work rules were instituted, and long-term viability of the company was destroyed through stock buy-backs, to the tune of 12 billion dollars. It’s no coincidence that Parker is predominantly paid in stock options.
@john luffred – wake up and get a clue before you start whining about biased reporting and finding fault with Delta.
-Delta’s fleet is older yet has had the highest on-time arrival metric versus American’s newer fleet that has miserable stats in this category (along with canceled flights and overbookings)
-Delta has been atop the list of customer satisfaction and continues to win high-end industry awards across a multitude of categories. American is consistently at the bottom of the list
Yes, honest, fact-based reporting isn’t always pleasant however, it doesn’t constitute bias. And for the record, I’m not a Delta employee. After a million miles on AA, I finally gave up and switched over to Delta and have since clocked in nearly $700k with them. Best decision my company made and we’re not looking back.
Wake up, John.
sad to say but american airlines has not been run well since the early 80’s when crandall was in charge..they have had many ups and downs and “merger” or takeover situations on thier own,before the takeoverer of aa by us airways..the reputation they once had of “doing what we do best”, or “something special in the air”, has long since gone into the history books!
It’s a shame. American used to be such a leader and innovator, now they are just a complete mess! Not the same AA from 20 years ago.
I grew up in a town served by Allegheny Airlines. Fast forward half a century, and I’m still trapped (different state) flying Allegheny (AA). The problem seems to be Parker. Every merger, he increases profit by sacrificing quality and passenger experience. The Suits like the squeeze put on passengers as it increases margins. Icahn ruined TWA, Parker has ruined USAir, America West, and now AA. Fortunately, AA is partnered with JAL. So many AA customers chose JAL instead of AA to fly to the Far East that AA no longer flies to Narita from Chicago. I keep hoping that some airline will compete based on service instead of ticket price. Sure thing: it won’t be anything run by Parker.
Haven’t flown Anerican since they stranded me for three days in San Fran due to weather. Never even offered a bottle of water over the 3 days. Had a check in person tell me that perhaps my cancelation was “for the best as you never know, the plane could crash”!!!!! She then proceeded to book me San Fran to New York via Italy! Until I reminded her I wasn’t carrying my passport.
@Robert wallas. If you are referring to European business class seats within Europe it’s true that they only block a middle seat. But in terms of food all the major European airlines KLM/AF, Iberia, British Airways have been investing in inter European business class catering. So I can’t agree that AA food is better within the US than Europe. Even Lufthansa the total laggard has been trying to up their game a bit.
Spot on. Now where’s the Vitamin D bottle? No amount of sunshine from AAL mis-management will give me confidence. I just hope they climb out of this hole which seems like a metaphor for the entire country today.
Retired 5 years ago with 37 years at Piedmont>USAir>US Airways>American. After the dream job of working at Piedmont for neary 10 years, the roller coaster started on the downhill with the disastrous USAir merger. I kept waiting for the roller coaster to head back uphill, but the ride continued downhill at each merger event. Who would have thought that inheriting DUI Doug as CEO from the garbage Phoenix carrier, America’s Worst, would result in the veritable destruction of legendary American Airlines a few decades later? (I did think that, actually, as did my peers at the time.) The “east” pilots of US Airways warned the APA pilots of American Airllines not to go along with the merger deal making Parker the new CEO of American. Even though it appeared to be a great short-term deal for us pilots, we knew Parker would simply do his “one trick” show and turn AA into America West (as he had done previously to US Airways.) And here you are! No longer the proud American Airlines but a global joke of America West.
A lot of comments here are related to frequent flyers and there experience with the airline and yes they have reason to be upset – but the problems are not because of frequent flyers it the upper management made decisions. The airline industry is NOT what people learn in university doing a business management degree – in other words “boxes around a factory” – unfortunately it’s the type of management the airline has from the board to the department heads – NO – one in charge has any airline experience – no understanding of what an airline is – it’s not a bus company – they are sales people and cannot sell. When AA joined the club or should I say created the club called – ONE WORLD – that’s when things started to go bad as the inter airline meetings then were focused on “no matter” who you flew with the experienced was to be the same and you sure got it with – ONE WORLD – terrible everthing – I once worked for a one world airline who had of all thing 800+ department managers and none of them could get it right they were alway trying to reinvent what didn’t work before. I believe they still cannot – All the comments here are what was experienced by that airlines customers – AA – Shame to see a great airline turn into a terrible airline by the people who make the decisions “the board”.
I was fiercely loyal to American Airlines, having flown AA whenever possible the past 30 years. I was almost a Million Miler, until American started charging first-class pax for Admiral Club access. Since then, I have only flown AA once in the past 5 years, and that was 2 years ago. On the employee side, life has been even more miserable than when Richard Crandall was CEO – and he was hated by the flight attendants!
Way to go Doug!
Unfortunately, Tempe either won’t read these seemingly universal comments or will ignore it.
Personally, i have 9.78MM miles (yes) in the program (from day 1) and if i get to 10MM, i get 4 basically unusuable SWU’s..Whoopie….
After a 7H flight from ORD-ANC with no pillows or blankets I am done with them domestically unless I can fly a widebody or a Republic E175,,,
I got a decent status match from Delta and it’s incredible how much superior they are to the AA domestic product…especially their new A220…
Fortunately i can keep my EXP status since my miles are usually to Asia and i can use either CX or QR….
United had the same problem but they woke up and are starting to upgrade their domestic product – unfortunately, this won’t happen on AA until it’s too late
You hit the nail on the head. The company does not care about its employees, nor its passengers….only the almighty dollar. Parker and his crew are what’s wrong with American, and every decision they make results in a worse experience for passengers and all of us employees.
Parker would do well to learn from Richard Branson. His philosophy is “Take care of your employees and they will take care of your business.”
john luffred evidently is a fan of the bowl of puke in washington. This has nothing to do with politics. It is all related to a lousy airline and dumb woke management. Period.
I’m an AmeriKANT pilot. One year left before retirement. I’m not original AmeriKANT and never will be. They are COMPLETELY focused on WOKE, Implicit Bias and DIE (Diversity, Inclusion, EQUITY). They are NOT interested in the fundamentals of running an airline.
This is their DNA. Not much has changed from Bob Crandall’s days as he tells the revolting story of cost-cutting he did as OKC station manager which ends as making sure the guard dog (that replaced security officers) stayed hungry . And he was obviously proud of that.
PilotUSA2016 got it exactly right in his comment. Many people forget (or don’t know) that today’s American Airlines is AA in name only. Today’s AA is America West (known unaffectionately in the days as “America’s Worst”) rebranded with the American Airlines name. The same mentality (and CEO) that ran America West took over US Air but kept the better brand name, then did the same when they bought American Airlines. Small wonder that what was once a great airline has become a joke when run by a crappy, discount airline management group …
It’s sad to be that American Airlines and it’s UK counterpart, British Airways, are on a race to the bottom of the barrel. These two airlines, with their piss poor customer service and lack of regard for their employees and customers blatantly shows. It was nice being an Executive Platinum over the last 10 years, at which time, I actually hated United for poor customer service. It’s funny how the tables have turned. First class, no more meals, you call the specialised EXP desk and your wait is 4 hours, just like the mainlines. It’s clear to me that Douggie doesn’t give a damn. As a result, being Houston based, I flew United last year to LAX, on my way to Australia, and noticed that they’ve really turned their business around. Their planes are actually cleaner, and I have realised that their flight attendants care about their brand and appearance. As of a month ago, I’ve asked United for a status match, completed the challenge, and received Premier Platinum. I have since closed my American and BA accounts, never to turn back. It seems as though American wants to complete with the Spirit and Frontiers of the world. Those airlines have their market… No thanks.
Now they are pushing the vaccine mandate or firing employees. They want that government tax money by complying. I used to fly them to China almost every month. Have lost a lot of respect for their company culture and downgrades.
while it is sad, some they brought upon theirselves. The ground staff is completely untrained, the flight attendants are rude, mean and unhappy. While flying has become difficult on AA it is just a burden. flights delayed, flights cancelled, planes in disarray and flight attendants who don’t care.
We reap what we sow
I must admit I have noticed a serious downgrade in American service over the last few years. I usually fly first class. Opting to pay the extra price as upgrades regardless of status are few and far between out of SFO. Its clear the extra money does little for you. I often get bumped to middle seats from first class by missed connections. Leaving me researching alternative flights to get back in FC. Its also clear the new elite qualifying system is rigged to get cash out of frequent flyers at the end of the year. Never mind America asking 240,000 miles this summer for coast to coast round trip +$500. As a result I tend to look for cheapest FC tickets on all airlines now and not concentrating business with American.
I said it once before and I’ll say it again. American Airlines is a marketing firm that flies airplanes. All stop. I flew them for years when living in Dallas for 20 years and watch the deterioration of services on American. They no longer pretend to care about the flying plublc.
Need to comb AA corporate parasites out of Uncle Sam’s beard.
Funny how everyone complains about American. I flew AA , DL, and Southwest at least 6 times each last month. Picked each one because of schedule and nonstop. AA jets were the cleanest, and the teams were generally friendly and efficient. SWA was dirty on every flight- trash in my seat pocket many times and no power. DL was OK but not any better than AA and their seats had less under seat space than AA. With respect to the author, what makes Delta, Southwest, United, or anything else so “premium” compared to AA??
vax mandates are the nail in the flying coffin that is american airleins