American Airlines Turns to Data to Manage AAdvantage Members
Photo Credit: American Airlines is increasingly using data to track loyalty member behavior and trends. American Airlines / American Airlines
Skift Take
American Airlines has the value of your loyalty down to a science. But can that data prevent elites from defecting to other carriers?
It's no secret that airlines have turned more toward a revenue-focused strategy to manage frequent flyers in the last few years. Rewarding the most lucrative passengers better encourages high-revenue travelers to stick around while the cheapskates get pushed to the side.
What hasn't been known, until now, is how fastidious the airlines have been around pushing toward those revenue goals. Last week, Skift's Brian Sumers visited the team in charge of loyalty at American Airlines and learned that data aren't just part of the calculus for working with customers — data drive the entire operation. And interestingly, in many cases the airline
