Consumers Unhappy with American Airlines' PR

It’s been a rough couple of months for airlines. On the heels of Aloha, ATA, Frontier, and Skybus all going bankrupt, American Airlines (AMR) cancelled over 3,000 flights over safety concerns, stranding tens of thousands of passengers and disrupting air transportation across the U.S.

In the week following the flight groundings, Compete fielded a survey to 429 consumers to poll them about their awareness and opinions of the problems at AA. 95% of the randomly selected Internet users, or a sample of 408, were aware of the groundings. What else did they have to say?

Impact on Attitude Towards American

Nearly two-thirds of consumers felt the groundings took a toll on American’s reputation, the most negative outcome of the week of operational problems. Perceptions of AA flight reliability fared almost as badly, with pessimistic sentiment being voiced by half of consumers. Most critical, however, is the significant number of respondents (45%) who indicated a decreased likelihood to fly AA in the immediate wake of the groundings.

American’s Response

Did American’s PR machine kick into gear as quickly and effectively as consumers expected it to? Consumer feedback showed a lukewarm to cool response, with many respondents either unaware or dissatisfied with AA’s handling of the situation. The biggest offending category – informing customers promptly about delays – had a third of consumers feeling AA’s actions were insufficient, and an additional third weren’t aware of any actions that had been taken.

Expectations for the Future

Despite the negative feedback from consumers, most see the events as a general air travel issue rather than a problem specific to American Airlines. While 49% expect AA to experience issues like this in the future, most (81%) think this is just as likely for any other carrier, not just AA.

Comparisons to JetBlue

How do opinions of American today compare to situations that other carriers have gone through in the past? JetBlue (JBLU), which had a highly-publicized and embarrassing series of operational failures following a February 2007 snowstorm, provides an interesting comparison.

Compete fielded a similar survey a year ago directly following the JetBlue troubles, and found consumers were significantly more impressed by that carrier’s response to the situation. In many cases over a third of consumers found JetBlue’s responses to the events to be exceptional, a rating that a scarce few gave to AA.

Takeaways

While most consumers aren’t thrilled with American Airlines following such a massive operational problem, they are able to bucket this as being more of a general risk in air travel rather than a unique AA issue. Travelers anticipate other airlines to be just as likely to go through similar problems in the future as AA, and ultimately don’t fault AA for the groundings.

Where consumers are disappointed with American and expected to see more is in the company’s response to the events. Whereas JetBlue’s swift and well-publicized responses to their operational failures drew rave reviews from travelers, AA drew little such fanfare. In an age of always-on media, social networking, and YouTube, negative public perception can spread quickly and do meaningful damage to a brand. Even as travelers are increasingly resigned to the inconveniences and unpredictability of flying, a swift and sincere response can go a long way in restoring faith in a brand.

Comments

[flash45er]

American customer service SUCKS..Will not use that airline again. Last night my flight out of Palm Springs to Phoenix was cancelled (they didn't know why), I had another American flight this mornning to Kingman, Az. and missed that due to the fact the flighrt last night was cancelled. I realize that the air line is not accountable for weather, but they are wanting me to pay a $!)) change fee to re-book my flight to Kingman, because it was a seperate ticket. Now, do they really need the 100, I know that they can excuse that policy,>
Way to go American, that crap will really reatin your business.

[AAFlyer]

flash45er: are you sure you're talking about AA? They don't fly Palm Springs to Phoenix, and they don't fly to Kingman, Ariz., either. Those sound like flights operated for ex-America West Express, now US Airways Express by (presumably) Mesa Airlines.

I did have my problems with AA during the MD-80 fiasco, and I'm not happy with their response, but I'm willing to defend them against this charge!

[LoadedBanker]

So, you tried to cheap-out and buy separate tickets because you could save a few bucks, your scheme fails due to bad weather, and you want AA to save you from your own foolishness? Man up and take your lumps.

[Chi Man]

It is amazing that after having experienced such a frustrating breakdown in service...the management at AA STILL accepted their multi-million dollars bonuses.....THAT is what should be called not only bad PR, but UNACCEPTABLE PR! What kind of message does that send to its customers....?

[Exec Plat]

AA has been on a fast-track spiral downwards for the past 5-6 years and was beginning to have severe service and "attitude" issues PRIOR to 911. I've traveled several million miles with AA and have every perk possible - it still stinks. The apathetic attitudes of everyone within the organization is the real issue. No leadership. I have paid more to fly with AA for the "status & perks" but ceased doing so last fall and began flying with US Air and have been very pleased to date. The latest issue with AA crosses the line as the MD80/maintenance issues are real safety issues.

[aa dude]

HEY, YOU'ALL SHOULD TAKE YOUR ANGER OUT ON THE FAA, THESE BOZZOS HAD ALREADY PASSED THE INSPECTIONS ON THE S-80'S AND CAME BACK AND CHANGED THEIR MINDS TO DRAW ATTENTION AWAY FROM THEM BEDDING UP WITH SOUTHWEST AIRLINES!!!!!!!!

[Dal Dude]

aa dude has it right. American may have lost its touch with customer service, but the "1 inch wiring bundle fiasco" was brought to us by the lovable FAA, not AA. The only mistake AA made was not asking FAA for a waiver on the problem soon enough. The other airlines did, and were spared. AAQ's PR response was weak because there was nothing to say except to blame FAA, and did they want to poke them in the eye? I think not, so they just apologized. The airlines are getting blamed for a lot of problems that are really the FAA's problems. Late departures etc, mostly due to outdated ATC equipment. High prices due to fuel? I think that the airlines are victims here, not co-conspirators. Poor service? After 50% pay cuts we are lucky anyone still wants to even work there. Put the blame where it belongs, get educated.

[frequent flyer]

Who for one minute thinks that AA would have grounded 1 MD-80 if there hadn't been the fear from the FAA over a recurrence of the Southwest fines and resultant publicity about air safety? This had little to do with real safety issue (when was the last impact found) and more with wielding power. I was travelling that week and thankfully not impacted but all around me were. Was there a better solution available? I certainly believe so. Blame American, of course, but their option was to fight the FAA and given the congressional hearings going on, what other choice did they have?

[PissedatAA]

Never fly AA- recently lost my luggage cost me a vacation day- totally AA's fault, 2 specific employees, AA customer service stuck by the employees not the customer- Fool me once shame on AA, fool me twice shame on me. No longer will fly AA.

[Quenby]

HI
I don't have any experience with it. But if I'll use it service I will be careful.


On Jun 27 11:16 AM PissedatAA wrote:

> Never fly AA- recently lost my luggage cost me a vacation day- totally
> AA's fault, 2 specific employees, AA customer service stuck by the
> employees not the customer- Fool me once shame on AA, fool me twice
> shame on me. No longer will fly AA.