Tweeting Apologies © Mark Peacock
American Airlines has been a bit more forward over the past month in letting me know they care about me. A phone conversation, replies to my Tweets – I haven’t had this level of attention from AA in the prior 27 years and 2.4 million miles that I’ve flown them. However, I’m not sure this new effort is having its intended effect.
The reason for the change is obvious. American is going through Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings and trying to fend off an end-around acquisition by US Airways. In the midst of all this turmoil, they need to secure their most important assets, including their high-volume customers.
A few weeks back, a guy called saying he was from American’s executive office. He wanted to talk to me about my recent flight experiences. “How are we treating you?” he asked. Poor guy. A week earlier, I was on an AA flight returning from spring break in Puerto Rico. Checking in at the kiosk, I found that AA had moved my family and me from row 14 to row 31, the last row on the plane, where we spent 3 hours enjoying the pleasant smell of the lavatories.
“Did anyone offer to help you with re-seating?” he asked. No, I checked in at the self-service kiosk and could see that the flight was full. And I didn’t feel like queuing for 30 minutes so that one of the three gate agents could tell me there’s nothing they can do. The guy was quiet for a moment. “Sorry about that,” he said and offered me some 500-mile upgrades to make up for it.
I’d actually forgotten about that flight experience until the guy called. It wasn’t out of the ordinary, and isn’t unique to American. It happens all the time when equipment is swapped in these days of packed airplanes — though perhaps a bit more often with American given the age of their MD-80s. But instead of making me think “How nice of American to ask”, the discussion reminded me of just how lousy that flight home was, and how it ended a great vacation on a down note.
I applaud AA’s willingness to reach out, but I’m not sure that “Sorry about that” is the most effective theme for a customer retention campaign.
2 comments on “American Airlines Reaches Out to Apologize… Again and Again”
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Mark – you need to give Delta a try. I know the ORD hub is your issue, but I can’t say enough about how well they treat elites. I was seated in coach for the first time in forever having not gotten an upgrade, and before we took off the first class attendant came back and found all the platinum and diamond elites and took drink orders for once we were in flight.
I never experience the equipment issues you do, but I do do ATL gate dance once in a while (gate A1, no! B12! No! B 24!) but overall they do a fantastic job w customer service. Almost all of the things you talk about I think to myself, nope, not on Delta.
In general, they done a good job of automating so much and yes – you can change your seat after you check in. You can even check your upgrade status on a smart phone and track your luggage.
Someone’s doing it right. I hope other listeners and readers can agree with me!
Saw your post via a friend’s share on FB, and I figured I’d add my 2 cents. AA has been on my sh!t list ever since they wasted one of my vacation days several years ago. Instead of getting me to Costa Rica, they got me to LAX 4 hours late and their connecting flight was already gone. There were 20 other people going to Costa Rica on the same flight from SF — they all lost a day as well. AA’s reaction? Blame it on the weather (it wasn’t the cause), then deny any responsibility, then back down and reimburse everyone for a hotel.
They are *by far* the worst airline in the world. They can’t go under fast enough, IMHO, and I won’t shed a tear for their demise. I’ve flown hundreds of thousands of miles on AA, but I feel no attachment to that crap company and their crap employees. 👿