Tag Archives for american airlines.
Hit by severe weather, American found itself cancelling flights all at once late in the day, and the hotel and limo desk wasn’t sufficiently staffed to handle rooms for cabin crew.
An American Airlines passenger on a delayed flight went on an epic rant demanding a phone charger, an alcohol shot (which he says he’s not even going to drink), and a $200 refund while threatening crew and boasting about his wealth.
Is American Airlines a better airline than we give them credit for? They have made a decade of boneheaded decisions and the customer hasn’t been at the forefront of their thinking. But they’ve also made real improvements, and I don’t think they’re doing enough to tell that story.
It’s good that American Airlines is joining this trend. I’d rather see them investing in more lounges and lounge renovations. But additional options are certainly better than not. Hopefully those refrigerators will be stocked with a couple bottles of water I can grab when I pass through in a few days.
When Alyssa Gallagher found herself stranded by American Airlines – and the airline blamed weather – she should have been on her own. She could have slept in the terminal, or come out of pocket for a hotel room. However American itself told her she’d be “eligible for hotel accommodations.”
There are several lounge projects on the D and E concourses at the Miami airport. American Airlines just announced plans to (1) take the current business class Flagship lounge and fold it into the gate D30 Admiral’s Club space and (2) build a brand new business class lounge.
American’s new Chief Customer Officer Heather Garboden offhandedly mentions that “we’ve seen a 10% reduction in gate checked bags just within the first few weeks” of the carrier’s new boarding process.
If they’ve made changes to consciously drive down the number of bags they’re gate checking, that’s actually a huge win for customers and they should be shouting it from the rooftops! I just can’t figure out why they’re seeing this result.
The problem is that American Airlines has high costs, but an average product. Customers choose them on schedule and price, not because they’ll go out of their way to do so – the argument Delta makes about their business.
American Airlines has introduced elite status in their small business program. Companies that credit $250,000 or more in a calendar year receive (3) incremental benefits.
American Airlines is putting an additional row of first class into its Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft. They’re about the start work on the prototype A319. They expect to retrofit the first group of planes in the fall – the ones due for heavy maintenance checks – and then will proceed with the ones that only need cabin interior work.
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 »
