Hitting The Limits Of American Airlines Customer Service

At-gate American Airlines counter at JFK airport.

Flying over a national holiday, like the kickoff-to-summer Memorial Day Weekend just passed, is always a crapshoot. But because of vacation schedules and timing, like my college reunion this year, many of us have little choice but to fly then.

More people are traveling through an already-strained airline and airport ecosystem. From May 26 through May 29, 9.8 million travelers passed through TSA airport checkpoints, many more than during the 2020-2022 COVID years, and even slightly more than the new baseline, pre-COVID 2019 .

It was so nice that I was screened twice, as you’ll see.

Most of these people actually got where they were going, more or less on time. But from the traveler's perspective, there are so many areas where things could go wrong.

J.D. Power, for example, tracks passenger satisfaction in terms of aircraft, baggage, boarding, check-in, cost and fees, flight crew, in-flight services and reservations. Even bigger issues, like delays and cancellations, also lead to customer support frustrations.

While Frontier Airlines shut down its customer service phone lines in November, (customers now must use online chat or email) American Airlines still retains them. Unfortunately, they proved of little help in my situation.

In my case, I arrived at JFK Airport at noon EST on May 28, with a scheduled 8:45pm flight. I am not in the habit of arriving eight hours early for a domestic flight, but I wanted to participate in the last Zoom session of a writing seminar that ran from 1 to 4PM.

This itself proved a challenge, as there were no seats or power outlets in the check-in area of JFK's Terminal 8. I ended up sitting on the hard marble floor and reaching around the boarding pass printing machines until I found an open outlet for my laptop's charger.

Travelers wait in line at John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport ahead of Memorial day weekend on May 28, ... [+] 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Angela Weiss / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

I had gotten to the airport early hoping to switch my ticket from the 8:45PM flight to the 4:55PM, which would get me home to Los Angeles four hours faster. Unfortunately, the American gate agent told me she couldn't switch an AAdvantage ticket. I would have to call the customer service number. She did say there were available coach seats on the flight.

I ended up on hold with American for three hours. Inevitably, they finally picked up while I was presenting. I requested a callback, which needless to say, never came.

During this time, I was also contacting American customer service via Twitter. The Twitter rep told me I could cancel my ticket and get a new one on the earlier flight. I declined to do this unless I could reserve the new seat first, which the Twitter rep could not do.

The conversation continued sporadically. Finally, forty minutes before the departure of the 4:55, I was told there were no AAdvantage seats left on the flight. I would have had to pay cash if seats were available at all, which was unclear.

At this point, as my seminar was over, I gave up, packed up, and headed back to JFK's AirTrain. I went back to Terminal Four, where the AMEX Centurion Lounge is located, for a much-needed drink and something to eat.

Actress Mariska Hargitay (C) surprises American Express Card Members in The Centurion Lounge at New ... [+] Yorks LaGuardia Airport to celebrate seven days of Amex Cheer within the Lounge network on December 15, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images for American Express)

As I waited on the TSA security line, my phone buzzed. American's Twitter finally suggested that I try to get on the standby list for the 4:55. This was now impossible; I was in a different terminal and the flight was scheduled to leave in two minutes.

Like many establishments these days, the JFK lounge even had its own speakeasy, the (not too hidden) bar 1850. The dark wood inside was calming, and it was far more comfortable than sitting on the bare marble floor at Terminal Eight, as other travelers were doing. The calming lounge even made it worth going went through TSA screening twice, first at Terminal Four to escape the madness, then taking the AirTrain back to Terminal Eight for my next screening.

I ended up flying at 8:45PM on a decent, if packed, American Airlines flight that actually arrived about 45 minutes early.

According to a poll of 1,000 American consumers conducted by Interactions, a company that helps global brands implement human-like AI solutions for customer service:

· 76% of consumers expect better customer service than they get today, and 55% say customer service is deteriorating.

· 50% of consumers believe companies are trying to get them off the phone as quickly as possible.

· Yet 96% say they will be more loyal to a company that provides excellent customer service.

Airline customer service, like the rest of the industry, is often overwhelmed by demand. Yet somehow, the beleagured airlines keep flying and delivering passengers to their destinations. Whether the glass is half empty or half full is in the eye of the beholder.

American Airlines Boeing 737-800 aircraft as seen on final approach landing at JFK John F. Kennedy ... [+] International Airport in New York, USA on 14 November 2019. The US carrier is the largest airline in the world by fleet size. AA AAL is a member of Oneworld aviation alliance. (Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)