I wrote yesterday about American Airlines CEO Robert Isom lamenting that “it has never been harder to operate an airline,” but it also has “never been harder” to get through to an agent with AA’s horrific automated phone system. This is among the low-hanging fruit that AA must fix if it wants to become a top-tier carrier.
American Airlines Website And Phone System Still Broken In Many Ways
We can certainly discuss AA’s macro strategy (or lack thereof) but so much of customer satisfaction comes down to an easy-to-use website, mobile app, and phone support system. It’s the little things that make a difference and it is the little things that AA is still not doing well.
To its credit, the website has improved…you can now redeposit your miles online and as of this week, request systemwide upgrades online. That’s a good thing…it’s about time!
But let me demonstrate why there is still so much aggravation in trying to do basic things with American Airlines…the sort of things that no longer happen with United or Delta and that waste time and cause needless stress.
I booked a ticket for an Award Expert client from Rochester to Boston…AA flies nonstop on the route and I just booked directly on the AA website. Client decided to change his departure date, leaving one day earlier. No problem, right? I pulled up the reservation, clicked on modify, chose the new date (price was the same), and clicked confirm:
The computer says no…
I then figured I would just cancel the trip and rebook. Easy, right?
Nope…
So I called up American Airlines and the new automated phone system is just pathetic. Over and over the system says, “I didn’t catch that.” It was beyond aggravating trying to reach an agent…and then there was a 60-minute wait on top of that. The system often does not recognize keypad inputs, so there is no way to avoid the broken voice recognition system.
"I didn't catch that." Worthless automated phone system @AmericanAir. Absolute rubbish.
— Matthew Klint – Live And Let's Fly (@LiveandLetsFly) November 11, 2024
AA’s call center is also separated into domestic and international and (without fail) even if you specify you are calling about an international itinerary, the system always transfers you to a domestic agent, who is forced to apologize and transfer you to the international help desk, often doubling your hold time.
This is 2024. AI has come a long way. This is pathetic. It is unacceptable.
And it shows me that AA truly does not have a strategy concerning anything. United Airlines tirelessly invested in its technology during the pandemic and it shows: I have not had to call an agent in several months. But even when I do, the process is not nearly as torturous as AA (even when calling for a client without status and having to wait in the general queue).
It matters because if AA cannot get these little things right, it cannot (and should not) be trusted with the big things. Fixing the website and phone system are such low-hanging fruit. I’m tired of wasting my time dealing with systems that are broken. That itself drives away business. It’s why I don’t do business much with Aviaicna LifeMiles as well… despite better rates. It’s just not worthwhile…
AA is facing an existential crisis, but it must start by fixing the little things. Start with the website and phone system, please.
My wife and I recently moved to Philadelphia from New York City. Philadelphia is a lovely city but, my one regret is that it is an American Airlines hub with only limited service to United hubs. Even so, I will continue to fly UA and connect rather than deal with AA and all its problems.
I just had it happen where I called to speak to someone re an international flight and it connected me to someone in domestic. Without even asking if it’d be okay to transfer me, she transferred me the second she realized it was international and it increased my wait time by 30 minutes. Ugh.
I had a back and forth with customer service on this just over the last couple of days. Unless they have changed the name of the bot, I think it was an actual person. But I may have just as well been conversing with a limited capability bot. This was the last response I got from them:
“Thank you for your most recent response. I sincerely apologize for the ongoing frustration you’ve experienced with our automated system and the issues you’ve encountered every time you call the EP desk. I understand how disruptive and exhausting this must be, especially when your concerns haven’t been addressed despite multiple attempts.
Our Reservations team will be happy to assist you with your upcoming travel. They can be reached 24 hours, 7 days a week through Chat at aa.com/chatnow.
If you’re contacting us from outside of the United States or Canada, please click here for a list of our worldwide phone numbers. Be sure to have your flight details ready when you call, including your confirmation code.”
While acknowledging that I had an issue (not that there is an issue), the rest of the response is downright useless.
AA outsourced this type of work when they laid off all of their Customers Relations department at the end of March. If not a bot, many responses are cut and paste from low level employees working abroad.
Within North America, AA provides phone reservation assistance service in 5 international languages.
In comparison, UAL is the leader, 11 languages, from Cantonese to Spanish.
I guess Matthew’s wife will appreciate that she can call UAL and discuss her UA reservation in German if something arises.
Hello, this is America, learn to speak English or leave.
And it’s fair for you to expect the same of us if we visit your country.
This is an absolute waste of money by American when they can’t grow their stock.
The best thing of being a Delta Diamond is to have a dedicated phone line where a human picks up the phone almost immediately. No BS interaction with an automated phone system.
I do most of these tasks via the chat function in the app. I’ve never had any problems and I find it very quick.
I’ve booked flights, changed flights, got partner award numbers etc via this method.
I generally try the chat in the AA app and have gotten most basic things done. Yes, usually relatively quick to get initial reply (faster than waiting for a phone agent, probably as the chat agent is helping a dozen people at once).
I will say I’ve had some fantastic screw ups with them, like the one who replaced my KTN with my AS frequent flyer number on 4 itineraries.
Even Frontier’s phone system, which is designed purposely to try and NOT get you to an agent, always seems to work on the first try with verbal or keypad inputs and gets routed to the right place. Whether that person is comprehensible or helpful is another matter, but they at least can read a script, and at least they are better than repeating the same thing over and over to a computer.
I had to call AA twice when their schedule changes affected the same trip. First time, I was in France, with the second in England. I called the local number and the hold was short. In neither case could I fix it on line. I understand my requests aren’t easy for online (e.g. you cancelled the international leg on my Sunday two-leg flight, could I just have the same two flights on Monday for no change in fare?). Someday, maybe the software gets smarter.
Considering most aa agents have been trained in multiple functions it is hard to believe that domestic sales is a separate entity.
The only thing that matters for AA executives is bigger bonuses.
I expect that and want that as an owner of a corporation’s stock. But, I need the board to set a bonus structure that encourages the management to maximize the present value of future cash flows. Unfortunately, many don’t follow that “incentivize the long-term”/Buffet mentality.
I had a JL award via AA on hold and had an issue which prevented it from being ticketed. Forced to customer service automatically with a multi-hour wait time. I explain to the agent that I’m trying to ticket an international award PNR, who transfers me with another multi-hour hold only to reach domestic AAdvantage who, yep, transfers me to International with another multi-hour hold.
Anything beyond short point to point domestic AA, I’m booking away from AA.