American Airlines has added new features to its mobile app and online website to allow customers to gain control of the customer journey with self-service capabilities.
These new tools are designed to handle real-time travel disruptions, giving customers real-time options and a place to take action when plans change.
The improvements are part of the airline’s broader strategy to make digital travel a simpler, more connected experience with technological advancements.
These latest updates allow customers to experience personalization and seamlessness throughout the customer journey.
Heather Garboden, Chief Customer Officer at American Airlines, emphasizes how these new enhancements will ensure customer travel is smooth even during delays and complications.
“Our new app enhancements are unlike anything else in the industry because they don’t just explain why travel was disrupted, they help customers take action,” she explained.
“We’re giving travelers real-time options, real control and real peace of mind when they need it most.
“With personalized choices that fit individual needs, these tools empower customers to take charge of their journey.”
American Airline’s goal with this update is to reduce uncertainty during irregular operations by giving travelers more transparency around their customer journey.
“We strive to make every customer’s travel as smooth as possible, but we recognize things don’t always go to plan. When that happens, customers deserve transparent information and real-time tools to get their travel back on track,” Garboden added.
By increasing individual communication, American Airlines can achieve one-to-one experiences with their customers, allowing the airline to turn that information into personalized experiences for consumer comfort.
Moving beyond standard notifications, this latest update now acts as a central disruption hub, allowing customers to access self-service benefits without having to wait in lines.
The hub provides details on a customer’s trip during flight delays, cancellations, and rebooking availability, as well as clear next steps and real-time bag tracking.
The app also allows customers to directly rebook flights through a guided self-service flow, allowing them to choose alternative flights without contacting customer service agents or joining manual queues.
American Airlines also provides digital access to other services outside the flight, including hotel, meal, and ground transportation vouchers, as well as built-in ride options with Uber and Lyft, allowing customers to access the entire customer journey from within the app.
By bringing all relevant information together, this reduces manual switching to different sections and channels.
Furthermore, the airline has announced that it will further expand the app’s capabilities later this year, including self-service standby options, higher flexibility with booking choices, and enhanced hotel, meal, and transportation support.
Simple and Connected Travel Experience Strategy
These enhancements are part of American Airline’s broader commitment to creating simpler, more connected travel experiences with technology.
Earlier in the summer, the airline had redesigned the mobile app to offer real-time flight updates, as well as seamless check-in experiences.
Personalized and intuitive experiences have also been put in place as one of its customers’ most reportedly requested app feature.
This has also included partnerships with companies such as Microsoft to bring about smoother travel experiences with better technology tools.
By introducing fewer manual steps into travel planning or adjustments, this strategy allows customers to reduce their time navigating different systems whilst deciding next steps without uncertainty.
Tying digital capabilities and operational technology together makes the customer journey feel more seamless from start to finish.
Greater Transparency and Control Across the Travel Journey
These latest updates mean significant improvements to the customer experience, now focusing on real-time support when travel plans become uncertain.
Due to the unpredictable nature of customer travel experience, the mobile app allows travelers to gain more control during disruption.
By removing service contact from the mix, customers are not required to wait in queues for additional flight information during busy periods when most key tasks become digitalized.
These enhancements also aim to be more transparent to self-service customers, offering clearer explanations related to disruption causes and what can or will be done about it.
The app also allows customers to see what actions they can take, now using a color-coded system to show flight statuses and availability, reducing guesswork with unclear text or menu items.
By structuring the centralized hub, flight and additional customer journey features now become accessible within one interface, making it easier to see all relevant information at once.
This positions the app as a primary decision tool for customer journey management instead of secondary information source.
By placing the customer in the driver’s seat for the customer journey, this allows customers to take charge of their travel plans to reduce unnecessary stress and uncertainty on both customer-facing teams and travelers.
