American Airlines is cutting customer success jobs as part of a larger effort to restructure its post-flight customer support under a dedicated team, the airline announced Monday. The goal is to simplify its post-travel care experience.
The airline will lay off 656 members of its customer support team as part of the reorganization, though it will ultimately result in a slightly larger support team across the U.S. and globally, American said. The layoffs will impact teams in American's Phoenix and Dallas Fort Worth hubs. None of the affected employees work at an airport.
Job postings for the new Customer Success team will be open exclusively to workers impacted by layoffs for the next two weeks, according to Rachel Warner, senior manager of corporate communications at American Airlines. Managers also plan to notify impacted employees of over 800 additional open positions within the organization that match their qualifications.
The goal of the reorganization is to streamline American's customer success operations, Warner said. Currently, a customer faced with multiple issues on a flight may have to work with several teams to have them resolved.
Warner provided the example of a flier who redeemed miles for a seat upgrade, but ended up flying in the cabin anyway after the flight’s aircraft changed due to mechanical issues. In addition, the outlet on their seat didn’t work.
Each problem needs to be resolved through a different team under the existing structure. This can add even more friction to what is already a frustrating travel experience, according to Warner.
“We want to make sure that we have one person, one team that's working with that customer to get that resolved versus the customer having to go back and forth with multiple different teams’ members," Warner said on a call with CX Dive.
Additionally, some “lighter-touch” contact center inquiries will be routed to international teams made up of American Airlines agents with some third-party support, according to Warner. This approach aims to provide 24/7 assistance for customers with simpler issues.
“If all you have is an outlet issue with your seat, they can get back to you a lot more quickly,” Warner said.
