American Airlines has added new features to its online booking platform, providing more autonomy for customers when booking, schedule searching, or submitting claims online.
The extra features come after the initial implementation of the new cargo end-to-end management system in October 2019.
Despite industry challenges during the coronavirus pandemic, American Airlines has remained “dedicated to its ongoing modernization journey – the single largest investment to-date for the Cargo division,” said an airline spokesperson.
The new features include the ability to make allotment bookings online, a flight schedule search capability that doesn’t require a log-in, and an online interactive claims form.
The spokesperson added: “The entire technology transition began more than three years ago and involves more than 8,000 team members in Cargo and Airport Operations, and more than 30,000 customers.
“With more team members working from home in the last few months and limited to virtual interactions, the team of more than 700 people across 300 locations globally and more than 150 business, technology, and vendor partners have had to adapt to keep the project on target.’
Angela Hudson, Head of Transformation for American Airlines Cargo (AA Cargo), said: “The pandemic has made this hard, particularly on a project of this size and which requires this much collaboration.
“Thankfully we were already committed to a mindset of adaptation and innovation, which is what has allowed us to navigate changing world circumstances and continue to make progress.
“Our new technology platform allows for a better experience for our customers, enables them to make bookings at their convenience and offers more flexibility and efficiencies behind the scenes for our team members.”
The latest new tools, said AA Cargo, will both streamline and advance business through reduced paper use and an increasingly more touchless system: “This type of efficient foundation allows for greater flexibility and speed to market for new products and solutions to continue to provide the best in customer service. ”
The entire technology overhaul replaces the majority of American’s legacy technology, reducing 90 systems down to less than 10. The evolution of the investment is part of a broader initiative to modernize the entire business. The project is on track to complete by the end of the summer.
