Following Thursday’s American Airlines second quarter earnings call, corporate officers gathered employees for a ‘State of the Airline’ presentation. This was recorded and shared through the company’s internal network, and a copy was reviewed by View From The Wing.
Usually these events feature question and answer, but the presentation took up the full allotted hour and if Q&A was done that portion wasn’t posted.
There were certainly some interesting tidbits, such as Chief Customer Officer Heather Garboden sharing specific net promoter scores for the airline –
[W]e launched the new 789Ps and with all the great amenities, the feedback has been excellent. So our NPS scores on those aircraft are over 50 points. For the rest of our wide-body fleet, it’s around 25. So that’s a pretty good result. Yes, really exciting. We also officially opened our new flagship lounge in Philadelphia. This is our ninth premium lounge, and it has by far the highest NPS scores of any of our flagship lounges at this point.
American Airlines Boeing 787-9P Business Class
American Airlines Philadelphia Flagship Lounge
This is not surprising. A better product leads to higher customer satisfaction. American Airlines used to ignore net promoter score entirely, preferring to look at their own post-flight survey results for ‘likelihood to recommend’. And frequent flyers were leaving the airline even before the pandemic.
So considering NPS – where they have a huge deficit versus Delta and United – is progress. It’s now a key metric for their customer organization.
She also noted that more changes and additions to the airline’s food for sale program are in the works, acknowledging that where Aemrican has been (offering very little in back, and underperforming United and Alaska significantly in this area) is a pain point.
We’ve expanded buy on board for our customers, which was a really big pain point. And these are, you know, again, these are quick wins. We’re taking a holistic view of our entire food and beverage strategy. And so, you know, more to come on that front.
The end of the recorded session involved CEO Robert Isom acknolwedging next year’s 100th anniversary of the airline. (Delta is celebrating their centennial this year.) 100th anniversary merchandise is now available.
[W]e’ve set ourselves up better than we ever have in our history. And so with that, I look forward to launching it at 2026. and flying through it and really producing some great results. And as we look forward to our future, I just like to ask a question, you know, what if? So we’ll end with that. Hold on.
He then played a pre-recorded segment:
No one knows exactly how the first conversation went that led to a small air carrier flying its first piece of mail from St. Louis to Chicago, but it probably started with, what if?
And while that first flight on April 15, 1926 was short, it sparked a journey that spanned 100 years of looking up and forward. What if we carried mail and passengers? We flew the DC-3 from New York to Chicago. What if we extended our welcome before the flight?
We created the first airport lounge. What if we rewarded our most loyal customers? We created the first loyalty program. What if we built the best airline with the best people?
We led the way. America’s history is built on seeing the possible. Our future builds on that legacy to drive us forever forward.
We’ve already seen this “forever forward” branding creeping up in American Airlines materials.
It feels too generic. I’m not sure what it means or that it really conveys anything meaningful. But it’s a slogan, and isn’t suggestive of a medically-assisted retirement community like “caring for people on life’s journey” is. Expect to see a lot more of this in the coming year, which is fine if we also continue to see real customer improvements as well.
Nothing is forever…
(More like ‘medically-assisted’ sui…)
What if… we stopped pretending slogans could fix an airline? Forever Forward sounds less like a vision and more like a threat to passengers forced to endure this clown show. While customer satisfaction tanks and the earnings continue to crumble, Isom and his overpaid cheerleaders are busy workshopping motivational posters. Time to flush the whole deck… Isom, Garboden, and the entire Board, before they “what if” American Airlines straight into bankruptcy court.
Now that Parker (Former AA CEO) is long gone things will continue to improve at American Airlines. Parker was a disaster and should have been fired long before he was able to destroy a once great airline.
@Joe T – Robert Isom is (in all important respects) an exact carbon copy of Doug Parker. Same lineage, management habits, and strategic DNA. He’s gotta go before things can truly turn around.
Just some nonsensical words. They forgot to use the phrase lean forward or lean into.
Speaking of the posters, the top one, featuring the Mayan Ruins of Tulum, Mexico; to visit, you should consider flying nonstop from MIA or DFW on American to the new TQO airport, opened 2023, which is much closer than Cancun (CUN), about 2 hours away. And don’t worry, @Tim Dunn, Delta also flies there from ATL (and, United, *gasp* from IAH).
Otherwise, the ‘tree house’ restaurant/resort at Azulik is pretty unique. There’s also a relatively new Conrad and Hilton (opened 2022) a bit north of there; fairly nice properties (though, the Waldorf in Cancun is slightly better, but farther). Lots of sargassum (sea weed), so plan on swimming at the pool over the ocean. Also, as with many places overseas, if you’re from the USA, please consider brushing your teeth with water bottles (anyone know of the Mayan equivalent to Aztec Montezuma’s Revenge?).
it would be nice to think that AA is moving forward again after a 20 year detour “to the south” and, 1990, we aren’t talking about Mexico
Maybe the slogan should be “Pay it Forward” because customers now and in the near future will not benefit.
The fact that these ” experts” are satisfied with a new lounge and not the overall disaster they call AA. Why bother with food when most bring their own (which is better than any AA served meal anyways) most have to provide our own entertainment too.
AA gotta long hard road ahead. I just wish my large FF account actually had some value.
Wow, Delta celebrates 100 years and AA feels the need to copy that too? (jk)
I’m with @Mike Hunt – the slogan feels like AA will keep moving forward with or without you (the customer)
@1990 – Good eye, I bet you are pretty good at Geoguessr. The Azulik and Hilton Tulum Riviera Maya both look pretty nice — I’m assuming the bottled water is included all-inclusive which will help for brushing purposes!
I’d be pleased if they could have AAdvantage moving forward for a few years rather than continually backwards. Forever is asking a lot. Then again I suppose moving forward in AAdvantage is asking a lot too.
One step forward, two steps back, stumbling all along the way, forever.
@Tim Dunn — I see what you did there! *wink*
@L737 — AA’s centennial is next year (1926-2026), *if* they make it! (I think they will… because, umm, ‘forward forever?’ …oof.) And, for real, I prefer bottled water to ‘riding the porcelain bus.’ That ‘bus’ is never ‘free.’ *shudders*
Maybe this leaked so that we could mercilessly mock it and they can back away while saying it was “unauthorized”. Haha.
@Adam L — “I love a good roast!” –Mr. Allen from the film Liar Liar.
Isom doesn’t take questions from the unwashed masses.
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.” —Theodore Roosevelt
yeah, ghost, there is also something to be said for the person who is smart enough not to let his face get bloodied.
Many of AA’s wounds are self-inflicted. and they just kept doing the same thing over and over again – and getting bloodied over and over again.
In most textbooks, that is called the definition of insanity.
It is possible to overcome insanity and maybe AA “has been healed” in time for their 100th BD
Letting the finance people at AA play marketing. “ChatGPT: give me 5 different ways to say ‘Keep Rising’ and don’t mention Delta.” Ugh.
“What if… we stopped pretending slogans could fix an airline?” What nonsense are you going to tell me next? That campaign slogans don’t matter? Politicians make promises that they don’t intend to keep? A “customer-focused” company is focused on the profit they can make from each customer? And, the big one, when a company says they did that “for your convenience,” they may have done it for theirs (for your convenience, we will charge you crefit card after your free trail ends)?
@Mike Hunt I just re-read the note I just posted. I fear it could be interpreted that I was say “duh” to that quote I copied. That was not my intent, which was light-hearted banter.
@This comes to mind – Truly, we’re living in a golden age of corporate benevolence and airline poetry. Forever Forward, indeed.
Forever Incompetent would be more apropos
I’m a bit confused on your comment on NPS. NPS is measured as a difference score of a likelihood to recommend metric. How can they have ignored NPS but still go off of likelihood to recommend score?
Are they just pulling from different questions (transactional, in that it was post-flight surveys), as opposed to relational (which could be asked at any point, not just right after a transaction)?
Slogans don’t have the impact they had years ago. We live in a very different world.
AA needs to concentrate on the blocking and tackling or operational efficiency along with finding ways to drive premium revenue. Maybe better meals in domestic first, particularly if AA wants to hit the monetization percentages DL has been able to achieve. An additional row of MCE. Better BOB options. Expand lounges where possible.
An NPS of 25 for a widebody is pretty awful, I wonder what it is when you include the fact that most flyers fly on spartan (and screen-less) narrowbody – probably negative?
Nowhere it says that the airline is now focusing on NPS; it’s just that it’s the measure that moved the most, therefore the one picked to boast about the new hardware.
@George Romey — Good points. Can we all agree that the safety video is really ‘where it’s at’? Like, United needs to get rid of that ‘blue ball’ thing, amirite @Tim Dunn?!
It sounds like they sniff the same paint as the crew at jetBlue. They should merge so AA can get back in line with the “big 2”
Cheap sloganeering rarely leads to satisfactory outcomes. What’s next? Hanging one of those pictures of a soaring bird with some lame motivational caption on the wall of every AA HQ office and in every gate area?
@DFWSteve — Better yet, how’s: ”Live, Laugh, Love… American Airlines.”
yes, 1990, out of control balls should be restrained.
I’m not so sure about your motto above.
@Tim Dunn — I do genuinely enjoy the ‘Delta through the decades’ video at the moment; hard to pick favorites, but I do like the 70s disco theme in that one.
Hard to pick all-time favorites with safety videos, though I am a fan of when airlines showcase their destinations in the videos. United did that before, Air Canada does it (with the various provinces and territories), LATAM has something similar, as does Qatar at the moment (postcards from, etc.)
You’ve got to admit that “Forever Forward” isn’t too bad a slogan. It’s anodyne, short, pithy, and has flexible meaning. And it is better than United’s “Good Leads The Way” and Delta’s “Tolle Corpus Satani”.
AA has been Mr. Isom’s company for over three years. As such, the current state of the airline is exactly as he intends it to be. All aircraft ready to fly every morning . . . but we’re not going to fund maintenance to the level required to achieve it. We want to be a premium airline . . . but not restore cabin staffing and service levels that Mr. Parker cut. In however many years, when Mr. Isom retires, AA will still be struggling to have all aircraft ready to fly every morning . . . and striving to be a premium airline . . . and offering visions of a great future.
JonNYC reported last year that the AA NPS gap was 10 points behind UA and 25 points behind DL: https://x.com/xJonNYC/status/1900285928184156262
A jump from an NPS from ~20 to ~50 would imply the B789P basically pulls NPS scores marginall ahead of DL which would be progress – they just received their 5th B789P and should get 2 more in August (and 11 total in FY25).
Now they have the narrowbody product issue to handle which is a whole different topic.
“Forever Forward” beats “Pissing into the Wind”
@ 1990. I live in Bali & brush my teeth with the local water. No bad result. And eat Jakarta street food. Real street food, not the stuff you eat in a dedicated warehouse. Weenies. Weak systems. What comes from trying to live in a bubble.
@O’Hare Is My Second Home — But, I thought it was ‘Keep Clim…’ oh, I see what you did there. Bah!
@Jack the Ladd — The water quality in Mexico is uniquely bad; even those that live there often receive drinking water through a separate delivery service, or have filters, or just get sick themselves several times a year. Over time, maybe they develop some relative immunity, but still it can get them, too.
I like Indonesia, generally, and Bali, specifically, and have been multiple times; however, I, and most people should stick to bottled or filtered water, not tap, if they want to avoid unpleasant experiences (same goes for ice, and certain foods washed in tap.)
Earlier, in a separate post, you emphasized that you practice Islam, which is prevalent in the rest of Indonesia; that must be interesting in Bali, where Hinduism is like 90% majority. I appreciate the recent peaceful co-existence that I’ve witnessed there; it’s come a long way since 2002.
jack
it is a whole different issue when you swallow vs. spit it out.
jeremy,
remember, this is ONE AA product or aircraft.
There is undoubtedly a range of NPS scores for different DL and UA fleet types.
Part of the NPS bump is probably the “wow this is new” from passengers but also a “this is something I am proud of” from the crew who might be incentivized to do a little extra.
The real measurement is what happens to NPS for that airplane type over time and also for all of AA
@1990 I like the Delta through the decades video.
Also, Qatar’s current safety video is a bit bizarre, featuring Kevin Hart. Compared to the bland videos that I’ve seen elsewhere it’s a bit of fun.
@1990 also I’m now stuck in Philly awaiting my rebooked flight to MSP later today after my original AA flight cancelled due to weather yesterday and I didn’t want to spend $1000 on a last minute one way on Delta.
The rebooking was painless on the phone, the lines were super long for customer support at the airport.
Also I had an opportunity to directly compare a long haul ORD – DOH on Qatar vs DOH – PHL on American. It wasn’t terrible. While it doesn’t quite have the polish of Qatar, it was pleasant. The flight attendants were friendly and experienced. Compares fairly well to a couple of Delta TATL flights that I’ve taken.