Latest news with #American Airlines
Skift
a day ago
- Business
- Skift
American Airlines CEO on AI Pricing After Delta Backlash: ‘I Don't Think It's Appropriate'
Ever since Delta mentioned it is using AI to set prices on domestic flights, the backlash against the carrier has grown. American Airlines CEO Robert Isom sought to distance the carrier from growing backlash over the use of AI to set airfares, saying Thursday that American would not use the technology in a way that could erode consumer trust. Isom didn't name Delta, but his comments were in response to a question about a competitor's use of AI. 'For us, of course, we're going to find ways to get our product in front of consumers,' Isom said during a call with analysts. 'But consumers need to know that they can trust American, OK? This is not about a bait and switch. This is not about tricking and others that talk about using AI in that way, I don't think it's appropriate. And certainly, from American, it's not something we will do.' Delta has received criticism from lawmakers and con
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
American Airlines Reinstates Annual Forecast, Sees Wide Range
American Airlines Group Inc. reinstated its forecast this year, providing a wide range of possible outcomes that include a more optimistic outlook as domestic demand recovers. Possible scenarios range from an adjusted loss of 20 cents a share to a profit of as much as 80 cents, American Airlines said Thursday in a statement, with a mid-point of 30 cents. American also forecast a third-quarter loss that exceeds analyst estimates.
Travel Weekly
15-07-2025
- Business
- Travel Weekly
American Airlines will introduce a quick-serve lounge in Charlotte
American Airlines will introduce a quick-service lounge, Provisions by Admirals Club, with the first opening planned for Charlotte Douglas International Airport late this summer. Provisions by Admirals Club will be geared toward travelers in a hurry. The space, to be located in the airport's Concourse A, will offer a variety of sandwiches, salads, snacks and fruit. The space will be laid out with high-top standing tables and minimal furniture to facilitate quick visits and accommodate high-volume traffic. American said Provisions staff will assist customers just like they do in the Admirals Club. The quick-serve lounge will be open to flyers under the same rules as standard Admirals Clubs. American's plan to open the new quick-stop lounge is the latest in a string of customer-facing initiatives this year. The quick-serve trend American Express also announced Tuesday that it would introduce a quick-stop lounge, called Sidecar by the Centurion Lounge. The concept will debut in Las Vegas next year. United was the first U.S. carrier to open lounges for flyers on the go. It debuted United Club Fly in Denver in 2022 and opened a second Club Fly at Houston Bush Intercontinental early this year.
Travel Weekly
14-07-2025
- Business
- Travel Weekly
Amid competitive pressure, American elevates its customer experience
With a slew of initiatives announced this year, American Airlines is beefing up its customer service to better compete for premium travelers. Analysts, however, want to see if American will have the wherewithal long-term to match what Delta and United are doing. American's new emphasis on improving the customer service in all cabins was articulated in May by chief customer officer Heather Garboden for an airing of American's podcast, "Tell Me Why." Running a reliable operation, Garboden said, has been the primary focus in customer service for airlines during most of her 20-plus-year career. But no longer. "In today's environment, that's table stakes," she said. "We know that customers expect more. We know that premium has become incredibly important." The Flagship Suites in the business class on American's Boeing 787s. Photo Credit: American Airlines This spring, American took delivery of its first planes (Boeing 787s) equipped with sliding-door business-class suites. In May, the carrier also opened a Flagship Lounge and a new Admirals Club in Philadelphia's airport. But those moves, while substantial, were long in the works. Evidence of American's new emphasis on customer offerings manifested in February, when the airline created a standalone customer-experience organization and put Garboden in charge. Since then, announcements related to customer experience have come fast and furious. Photo Credit: American Airlines Among many others, they've included in-flight service items such as expanding buy-onboard meal options in economy, adding a second beverage service for domestic flights of more than 1,500 miles, and introducing afternoon tea service across cabins on inbound flights from Paris and London. American also made customer-favoring policy tweaks, including expanding same-day standby eligibility to all customers (not just AAdvantage members) and enabling standby requests to be made with an agent rather than only through automation. In April, American unveiled a redesigned app and announced that it will make WiFi free to AAdvantage members across 90% of its fleet beginning in January. And last month, American announced plans for a new Flagship Lounge and Admirals Club in Miami. View from the Wing blog author Gary Leff said lots of nice things are happening at American. "There's a drive to win on something other than price," he said. "They want corporate business. They want premium business." Photo Credit: American Airlines Brad Beakley, CEO of travel industry consultancy Hospitio, said he's already enjoyed some of the service upgrades on American flights, including the steak and pimento cheese sandwich on the expanded buy-onboard menu. The sandwich was delicious, Beakley said, but availability has been inconsistent. "The execution of all these things matter, and I think that's something American struggles with," Beakley said. "I don't know if that's the culture or employee organization. I think some of it is logistics." But Beakley said that American's appointment of former Walmart supply chain and logistics executive Chris Sultemeier to its recently created Customer Experience Advisory Board is another positive sign. Beakley views American's sharper focus on customer experience as related to the airline's re-engagement with corporate travel agencies and their customers last year, after a failed strategy of driving more direct and New Distribution Capability (NDC) bookings, in part by removing more than half of its traditional ticket content from the GDSs. It resulted in a substantial loss of corporate share. Leff said that American, like its full-service competitors, has a high cost structure. So to succeed, it needs to operate with a revenue premium. American trailed Delta and United last year in the key metric of revenue per passenger mile flown, called yield, though its yield of 19.93 cents per mile was only barely below United's 20.05 cents per mile. So far, Leff said, American has grabbed low-hanging fruit to make lots of quick changes. "I think the open question is going to be, when we move beyond the inexpensive, quick wins to the more systemic kinds of questions, what types of decisions are they going to make," Leff said. For example, will American decide to retrofit more of its existing widebody fleet with the new Dreamliner interiors? So far, 20 Boeing 777-300ERs are planned for the refit. Delta's rise to being the clear leader in the U.S. corporate travel market, Leff said, has been a project 15 years in the making. And along with product and service upgrades, building a reliable operation -- an area American still struggles with -- has been a key reason for Delta's success. "We are at the beginning of announcements for American on how they could be pivoting to be more premium and customer-friendly," Leff said. "But the runway for that will be very long. It will be a long time before we know if they stick to it."
Telegraph
11-07-2025
- Telegraph
Why US airlines are charging solo travellers more (and Ryanair is doing the opposite)
Travelling solo can be tricky enough without having to pay a special premium for the privilege. So singletons and solo adventurers alike may be raising an eyebrow at news from the States that three of the country's biggest airlines – American, United and Delta – are charging higher prices for lone passengers. In some cases, the difference is hefty: the US travel website Thrifty Traveler found that single passengers on a United flight from Chicago to a smaller city in Illinois (Peoria) were being charged $269 to fly, compared to just $181 for those travelling as a pair – a saving of one third. It isn't an isolated example. Another US travel website, The Points Guy, carried out a detailed analysis of some 3,000 domestic flights on a single day in the States and found that 7 per cent of them were charging a higher price to passengers having the audacity to travel alone. Why the premium? While airlines are notoriously secretive about their pricing methods, one reason being put forward is that the algorithms may assume that those travelling on their own are more likely to be business customers who are less likely to object to the higher rates. Curious to check the phenomenon for myself, I spent 15 minutes on the United website and was soon able to find a live example of this dual pricing in action: an economy flight from Chicago to Lexington whose per-person price dropped by $58 when I included a second passenger, from $283 to $226. Even more curiously, the tax breakdown on the United website showed that the tax per passenger was actually slightly less when two passengers were on the same booking – meaning that the higher rate was entirely down to airline policy. Bad news, then, for anyone planning their own solo venture across the States. But given that American airlines have long set the trends on things like baggage fees, is there any chance that this depressing trend could soon take hold on this side of the pond too? A curious discovery Consumer experts told me they had not seen any examples of European airlines charging single passengers more. But when I conducted my own research by testing flight prices on Ryanair, I found what appeared to be the opposite phenomenon. Looking at flights from Stansted to Podgorica, for example, I was quoted £142.69 for a basic fare as a solo traveller, but £157.69 (each) for two passengers on the same flight. Likewise, a one-way flight from Stansted to Prague jumped from £71.54 to £82.04 when I added a second passenger. I was able to find more examples of the same thing happening, with the price jumping between 10 and 15 per cent when a second passenger was added to the booking. All of these flights had one thing in common: namely that the single passenger was told there was 'only one seat left at this price'. Anyone who has booked a Ryanair flight will have seen similar messages appearing. But even if there's only one discount seat left, you might assume that someone booking two tickets would get the last remaining bargain price plus the next cheapest seat on offer – but you'd be wrong. When I contacted Ryanair, they told me that 'our system defaults all passengers in the booking to the next available fare class'. In short, that means that if there is only one seat left at the cheapest price, then it will only be available to customers purchasing a single ticket. By contrast, if you were booking as a couple, the system would automatically allocate you into the first pricing bracket in which two seats were available, even if that means leaving that discount seat on offer for someone else to snap up at a later time. Of course, there's nothing to stop you booking the tickets separately and getting the cheaper price. But how many travellers are going to have the foresight to do that? I was surprised to find out that couples were potentially losing out. Particularly since the consumer experts at Which? told me that the usual pattern is to see singletons paying more when it comes to holiday deals. In 2023, they revealed that solo travellers were charged an average of 47 per cent more when paying a Tui package holiday. Likewise, it is common for some cruise companies to levy an extra surcharge on solo holidaymakers, on the basis that they are taking up a room which was likely designed for two paying customers. 'Companies should be up front about any pricing practices they are using or single supplements so travellers can make informed decisions and choose the best holiday for them,' says Which? 's travel expert Rory Boland. 'To avoid paying over the odds, we'd recommend looking for companies that waive single supplements. Make sure you're getting a good deal by comparing the total against the per person price of a couple's package.' The rise of dynamic pricing But where does that leave the United and Ryanair examples, where an airline is charging passengers different prices for exactly the same seats based on whether they are booking on their own or not? The expert consensus is that the practice is another example of so-called ' dynamic pricing ', where airlines adjust their ticket prices to meet the strength of demand. The practice certainly isn't illegal, but it can be controversial: particularly when the algorithms are such a tightly-guarded trade secret. In practice, though, most customers have made their peace with dynamic pricing for airline tickets on the basis that it usually means cheaper getaways in the long run (particularly when you can plan ahead). But the nature of that flexibility means that there will always be some passengers who end up losing out.
