American Airlines is shutting down its customer service counters at its Washington National airport hub. They only plan to open it during major irregular operations events, with passengers expected to use their mobile app or phnfor rebooking assistance instead.
American Airlines Customer Service Counter, Washington National Airport
Passengers Are Given A QR Code Instead
Even as American pivots to pursue a premium strategy with customers, they continue cutting costs and providing less service. And despite the airline’s long-term focus on exact on-time departures, this will send passengers up to gate agents for help instead of diverting them to specialized agents – creating distractions that wind up delaying flights.
American Airlines Gates, Washington National Airport
This follows a cutback in airport customer service hours American instituted at Chicago O’Hare this summer.
O’Hare Customer Service used to be open 6 a.m. – 11 p.m., and they eliminated service before 2 p.m. That also wasn’t a strong way to show commitment to O’Hare, when they were under criticism for failing to build back the hub and the city was in the process of redistributing gates there.
American Airlines Customer Service Center, DFW
American Airlines has been on a years-long quest to reduce staffing. They reduced the number of agents at each gate, so that domestic flights that are no more than 80% full now get a single employee.
That solo staffer has to board the aircraft, perform customer service like seat changes, and watch out for passengers who are too drunk to fly or who have too many carry-on bags. They’ve automated tasks like clearing upgrades and standby passengers with a program called AgentAssist.
Along these lines, when you misconnect or your flight cancels you’re going to have to be doing a lot more self-service if you’re flying American.
American Airlines Customer Service In Phoenix
Eventually AI is going to replace most customer service. We’re not there yet, and customers still need help from live agents. United saves money by offering virtual access to agents, using staff more efficiently rather than placing them at each hub in as many numbers every day.
DFW Customer Service Line
Here are some things that you can do during flight disruptions to get help:
- Rebooking can be done in the mobile app… sometimes. You may not see all possible flight options, but may be able to confirm yourself on a flight that works.
- Go to the club if you have access rather than standing in line.
- Twitter direct messages can also be helpful with rebooking, I DM American Airlines when I’m inflight and can’t call and need to get changed onto a new flight due to a delay.
- Telephone customer service especially if you have elite status and have your calls answered faster may be quicker and easier than standing in line.
- Foreign call centers aren’t free calls, but use an internet calling app to ring up an English-language call center in another country (for American the U.K. and Australia numbers are best).
- Get help at your gate if you can rather than customer service, or even go back out to the ticket counter, there are people besides the customer service line who can help when things are this bad. Often gate agents won’t help.
DFW Airport D Concourse
In fact, try a combination of all of these. Stand in the line and while you’re there start working the phones and twitter. You may get what you need long before being helped at the airport in person. In the meantime, however, you’re advancing in the queue in case you do need physical help on the spot.
It also helps to know what you actually want when you do get someone to help you. I use ExpertFlyer to quickly find flights with availability, but you might just pull up the airline website and search as though you’re buying a new ticket. If they can sell you a seat they should be able to rebook you onto a flight.
American Airlines, Austin
During major flight disruptions you’re not the only one looking for help, and you want to get ahead of your competitors (fellow passengers). But since other people are moving around, too, availability for other flights changes all the time. I keep refreshing availability if I don’t see the flight I want.
I’ll start calls to the airline even when I don’t see what I want, or see something better than I have, because by the time they pick up options may be better. Or they might not be! Once you’ve been rebooked, you can still keep searching to improve your new itinerary.
And remember when you’re dealing with customer service agents to be nice. You may be having a bad day. It might even be the airline’s fault. But it’s rarely the fault of the person trying to help you. And they’re dealing only with unhappy people, so they’re having a bad day too.
DFW Airport A Concourse
What’s more, the person in a customer service role doesn’t get rewarded by their employer for going out of their way to solve your problem. Yet they can make a big difference getting you to where you’re going quickly (or not). You want to get them on your side. Joke with them. Ask them about how they are doing. Treat them like a person, because that’s what they are, and they’ll be more likely to go out of their way for you.
If you don’t get what you want the first time, though, ask someone else. Use each of these customer service options as a second and third bite at the apple. Some agents will bend rules, others won’t even give you what you’re entitled to. I usually ask for something at least three times (from different people), and get told no at least three times, before accepting that as the answer.
If you’re not one of their status members, then your phone call will be placed at the end of the queue. When I used to have Platinum status I would be on hold for less than 5 minutes. After I lost my status the hold times were more than 30 minutes or more. I miss the days of having Platinum status because I could choose a Main Cabin Extra seat closer to the front, get upgrades, free checked bags, free booze, group 3 boarding, and priority baggage delivery which only worked one time. I didn’t know that Main Cabin Extra seats were so expensive. Because of my status I would never see the price on the seat map. God it sucks having to fall from being an elite to end up as one of the miserable people at the back of the plane.
Would you rather have Customer Service or Bollinger Champagne?
management doesn’t have a clue…
American has sucked for over a decade. It continues to suck. They do not care. I’d rather fly Sun Country than American. I’d rather hitchhike. Or ride the rails. Get some cardio running from the railroad bulls, hop on that rail car, see the country, nap on some hay.
Makes sense that they are doing this tho – like the country they are named after, American Airlines is not even trying to reverse their decline
I mean, we were kinda ‘on our own’ to begin with, but, good to know. It’s past time we have air passenger rights legislation in this country, like EU261 or Canada’s APPR. Folks who are significantly delayed due to the airline should get compensated in addition to rebooking or refunds. Also, get travel insurance that covers delays at least over 3 hours (read the fine print), so that your prepaid expenses at the destination might be reimbursed.
Unfortunately, @Rafael, status isn’t worth much during wide-spread IROPS; sure, maybe you only have to wait an hour on-hold, while others wait 6+ hours; or, maybe you get a last-row, limited-recline, middle-seat on the next-available flight, tomorrow, when you initially had a First Class seat. That’s what Executive Platinum did for me, back in the day; it’s another reason why I settled for Platinum Pro, mostly to earn the oneworld Emerald lounge-access benefits; otherwise, status does next-to-nothing with partner airlines, either, when things go wrong with them (had an awful Finnair experience.)
AA Premium at its finest.
Whoever came up with this should be booted onto their ass on the curb. What a terrible, unfriendly idea. Completely undermines their strategic direction. Idiocy.
AA is just the first to do this among the big four. Eventually, they will all get there. Already, when you call the Diamond Medallion line on DL the phone tree always tries to route you to the chat function rather than speaking to an agent, even when the hold time is zero.
AI is this generation’s leapfrog evolution. It is going to (already is) radically transform the global workforce. In the end, the only thing that slows this evolution is time, money and imagination.
On the heels of the PR blitz regrading some equipment supposed upgrades, throwing their everyday customers under the bus is mindboggling. Simply put, yet another example of how out of touch the AA Executive staff is with the clientele they supposedly serve.
so much for the pivot to premium… at least it makes admirals club access even more valuable
I’m trying to figure what possible tortured contortion of logic makes taking away customer service in a focus city a more premium experience for the people suddenly left out in the cold.
Apparently CLT is also on the chopping block which is coming shortly. This according to several friends who still work for AA at CLT. Thankfully I retired a few years ago
…And AA’s customer service spiral downward speeds up and tightens. When are they going to realize that being on-time is good, but customer service at the airport matters a great deal? Their competition seems to do just fine and are outperforming AA. As much as we prefer the E-jets over flying CRJs on the competition, we’re going to look at the alternatives out of here. I’m in a city with no mainline service and the nearest hub is over 2 hour’s drive away.
Examples: With AA (Envoy) last week, we had to wait for almost an hour for baggage drop at a line station. It took significantly longer than our flight! I discovered that they loaded the outbound flight before running the bags. I’m an old ramp rat (+20 years). They couldn’t staff one extra person? At UAX, we had 20 minutes max to the claim area before we got dinged by management. Does AA even have time to claim area requirements anymore?
On our return (with no carry-on sizer boxes at the gates anymore), one passenger in First (in which we were traveling full fare) wiped out the entire overhead on one side with two immense carry ons. Neither the gate agent nor the FA did a thing.
When I complained to AA CS via e-mail, I got a handful of monkey miles. (I know, that’s what everyone gets these days.) I’m not an AA hater. I just want decent service for my money.
When do I get an AI to argue with the airline’s AI on my behalf?
@Denver Refugee — Look at you with the ‘big brain’ over here! Haha.
Talk about sending totally contradictory signals. The absurdity and incompetence of this airline’s board and senior management team is utterly baffling.
When AA had irrops at PHL last time the line for customer service was 3 hrs long. I would rather let the app rebook me than wait in those lines. AA gate agents and ticketing agent dont rebook you, they always ask you to go to customer service line which horrendous all the time.
Actually, having flown in/out of DCA 8 times in the last month, this may be a reasonable test for AA. DCA has seen, on average, a real drop in traffic with the shutdown. Many of my flights, even Chicago, Dallas, and Orlando have had 40+ empty seats.
They just may have slack across staff in general to handle the periodic issues, if (and with AA a big if), they really do staff CS during larger disruptions.
No doubt it’s a test for a CS free future, which is coming whether we like it or not.
Premium as long as it doesn’t cost anything money to implement. I prefer using the app but the app number one doesn’t always either allow you to change or give you good options. Number two, since AA NEVER updates departure times until it’s obvious that boarding time is going to come and go the app thinks your flight is on time, everything is hunky dory and therefore will charge you a refare to change. You “might” get a real human being to intercede (lounge, gate agent, telephone rep) as they realize if the inbound is going to arrive an hour late you’re leaving late no matter what the departure times indicates (save an equipment swap). Most passengers are clueless as what to do and what options are available.
I’m gonna use my “phnfor”
Or, I can buy a ticket on another airline that will give me decent customer service.
What about customers who are traveling from other countries with limited phone service?
This year I have been diverted in flight to another city, another time the plane had to go back to the gate for a mechanical issue, and nearly missed a connection at JFK due to being on a late incoming plane from Italy. Each time was managed very well, put on a different flight via the app, the next instance another plane was found and was just two hours late to my destination, and the 3rd was handled by a smiling gate agent saying she was “looking for me” meaning she was aware of my possible late arrival to the gate made my connection. I have to say American manages their problems very well without going to the rebooking center. Personally I really don’t see the need to speak to someone at the airport.
Caring for people along life’s journey…. Lol
I’d be OK using the app if it could do things right (and frankly I don’t think that’s such a huge ask today). I have an upcoming AA flight booked with FF miles in F that was originally through CLT with a 140 minute connect that became 36 minutes after changes to both flight times. I was able to use the app to switch to a comfortable DCA connect. OK, good.
I had the same flight to AKL last November and this. In both years, they had a schedule change and had me on the last flight to DFW with a 1 hour connection. Last year, I could only shift to an earlier flight to DFW by calling (from London). This year, zero problem using the app for the change. The only issue is I lost my seat assignment on the flight to AKL, but was able to switch back soon after. OK, give me a good app experience. I’m happy.
I called when had a miss connect in CLT 2 hrs later they called back. We had to get our own room and taxi to it
Service desk had an hr+ wait lounge Was closed
American is the worst full fare airline in the US by far. I will only fly AA if they’re the only carrier going where I need to go.
How sad to do that this time of year.