Tag Archives for american airlines.
For months, United CEO Scott Kirby has been publicly portraying American Airlines as a huge money loser in Chicago, framing O’Hare as a battleground his airline could dominate. Now American’s CFO is finally answering back — and his argument is that Kirby is using the wrong profit measure, because by the metrics that actually drive decisions, Chicago O’Hare is not a drag on the airline at all.
American Airlines has opened one of the best systemwide upgrade opportunities it has offered in years: buy premium economy, request the upgrade by Wednesday night, and business class can clear as long as a seat is still for sale. That makes this promotion unusually broad and unusually valuable, because it bypasses the normal scarcity of upgrade inventory and turns a hard-to-use benefit into confirmed long-haul business class for August travel.
American Airlines says it will now start telling passengers, in plain English, what is actually causing their delay instead of burying the explanation in codes or vague updates. The new feature is rolling out across the airline’s app, website, and notifications, giving travelers a clearer read on whether a disruption is tied to weather, maintenance, staffing, or something else entirely.
American Airlines tells elites and even some credit card customers that priority boarding means they can skip the general line and board at any time through the priority lane. But one gate agent at Miami reportedly shut that lane down after Zone 4, turning a benefit meant to preserve overhead bin space and save time into the exact opposite.
American Airlines was reportedly offering passengers as much as $4,000 each to volunteer off an oversold flight to Aspen, a stunning number for a carrier that usually avoids paying much to solve these problems. The twist is that saying yes may have been the best deal in the cabin, because the original flight later diverted to Grand Junction and passengers wound up finishing the trip to Aspen by bus.
American Airlines customer service agents have filed a class action attempt alleging the company routinely took unpaid labor—auto-deducted lunch breaks even when agents kept working, and timekeeping “rounding” that shaved minutes off the start and end of shifts. The catch is that airlines often sit in a special federal carve-out that can block overtime claims entirely, so the lawsuit may turn less on whether the conduct happened and more on whether the law even lets them recover.
A viral video from New York LaGuardia shows a passenger being taken to the floor by Port Authority Police at the American Airlines check-in counter after what is being circulated online as an attack on another traveler. The clip does not show what started the confrontation, but it does show the worst possible place to cause a scene: an airport, where law enforcement is everywhere.
A Discover-optimized lede for this would be: American Airlines flight attendants are being told to wear the red pins again — the same symbols used during the union’s strike-threat campaign — even though they already won a new contract and the union still is not clearly saying what, exactly, it wants now.
A White House deputy chief of staff tweeted a complaint about American Airlines, and it instantly turned into something bigger than one bad trip: a cue for other Trump-world figures to echo, quote-tweet, and pile on. The airline may even deserve the criticism in a given case, but the complaints have become a public signal of proximity, alignment, and tribe membership, not just customer service feedback.
American Airlines just announced plans for a new 12,000+ square foot Admirals Club at Austin-Bergstrom, and it’s not just bigger — it will be the carrier’s first lounge with an outdoor terrace. The club will sit on the west side of the terminal, right where American’s gates are concentrated, and the airline says it will offer elevated design, full kitchen facilities, and views of downtown Austin and the airfield.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
