Crisis Spurs American Airlines Into Being More Customer Friendly: Will Anyone Remember It?

The novel coronavirus pandemic has created the worst economic crisis in airline history, and no carrier is expected to bounce back quickly. But at least one U.S. airline may be using this as a brand-building opportunity. It's American Airlines, which since its 2013 merger with US Airways had fallen behind peers on customer sentiment. President Robert Isom last year told investors the airline's failure to recommend score, a metric that measures whether a passenger would tell a friend or relative to fly American, had dropped below expectations. On many issues, including on-time performance, seat comfort, and service, some flyers thought American wasn't getting the job done. Given that history, American might have been expected to take a hard-line against customers seeking to cancel tickets during the Coronavirus. But American seemed to realize earlier than most carriers that while it needed to conserve cash, this once-in-a century crisis was no time to take an antagonistic stance.