American Airlines trying to regain top on time position

Twenty years ago, American Airlines had such a strong on-time record that it called itself the “On-time Machine.”

Times have changed in respect of on-time performance at the carrier. Last year, American came in last among all U.S. air carriers in on-time arrival performance, among all those airlines that report their numbers to the Department of Transportation. For 20 months running, now, it has performed under the airline industry average.

In customer satisfaction, the carrier is consistently ranks low, and it mishandles a higher percentage of checked passenger baggage than the industry average. In addition, it has the dubious position of being at the top of the list of airlines in numbers of cancelled flights.

The airline is taking drastic steps, however, to improve its performance and image, by reworking its schedule and its operations. August and September results so far have shown promise, although the carrier’s executives openly discuss how much work there is to be done.

“There’s really no excuse for our performance of late,” said the vice president of operations planning and performance, Bob Cordes. “It really hasn’t been up to snuff.”

“No excuses,” added American’s managing director of the customer experience, Mark Mitchell. “I do believe from a leadership perspective, we’ve learned along the way and we’re committed to regaining American’s position.”

www.aa.com