American Expands New Tech to Enforce Boarding Priority
Over the last few months, American Airlines has been testing a way to make sure people actually board with their assigned group. The trial was first under way at Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ), Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) and Tucson International Airport (TUS).
American Airlines has nine boarding groups, in addition to early boarding. As you can imagine, or witnessed during your travels, not everyone waits until their group is called. The gate agent then asks passengers to step aside and return when their group is called.
The trial is apparently quite successful because American Airlines revealed today that it is expanding this technology to more than 100 airports across the U.S. The airline says that the “technology platform ensures customers receive the benefit of boarding in their assigned group and supports team members with more visibility into the boarding process.”
American Airlines has also provided a quick solution for customers traveling with a companion in an earlier boarding group. The agent has a simple one-click solution to override the alert and accept the pass to continue boarding.
Developing innovative technology
The ability to confirm customers can board in their assigned group is just one feature of the software platform developed in-house at American to support the airline’s team and customers. Designed from team member feedback, the new platform:
- Provides team members with more insight into the number of customers in each boarding group, which helps agents pace the boarding process
- Displays anticipated arrival time for incoming flight connections, which gives team members more insight into potential misconnections
- Eliminates the need for team members to use multiple applications during boarding by replacing them with one easy-to-use display, giving team members a more intuitive experience to accomplish their boarding tasks and support on-time departures
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