What’s Behind American’s Falling Customer Satisfaction Scores?
Photo Credit: American has made major investments in premium services, including on-demand dining for long-haul first class passengers. But the airline is concerned with at least one customer satisfaction metric. American Airlines
Skift Take
Many airline executives believe the most important driver of customer satisfaction is reliability. American Airlines hasn't been pleased with its customer satisfaction scores, so it is trying to improve the basics of its operation. That's probably the right move. But does it also need to improve its product or brand image?
Delta Air Lines likes to brag about its customer satisfaction scores, reporting earlier this month its domestic score tripled over the past decade, reaching an all-time high in September.
What about American Airlines?
On its fourth-quarter earnings call last week, it had less to boast about. In response to an analyst question, President Robert Isom admitted American's "likelihood to recommend" score, as measured internally, decreased year-over-year for the "first time in a number of years.” The scores measure how likely a customer is to tell a friend, colleague, or relative to fly American.
I expected Isom might say something about Project Oasis, American's plan to add seats to narrow-body aircraft to improve unit costs. All airlines are adding seats, but American is going further than some competitors, and customers have complained about reduced seat pitch and tiny bathrooms.
But Isom, former chief operating officer at Americ
