American Airlines Innovation - Research Paper Example

American Airlines Innovation Report The AA website was recently recognized as the best Airline Website in the world in the World Travel Awards. This was due to the numerous and steady improvements and innovations that this airline has been making since the 1980’s; due to them, it has remained the best among other airlines. The American Airlines is among the top five biggest airlines in operating revenues and in customer miles transported. It is a subordinate of the AMR Corporation and its main offices are in Fort Worth, Texas, bordering with its biggest core the Dallas Worth International Airport. It does flights both internationally and domestically, including the Caribbean, North America, South America, Asia, Europe, and Africa (Forty 44 ). The developments of this airline range are adverse i.e. passenger services improvement, electronic ticketing, discounts, introduction of self service machines, AAdvanced bag machine check programs, in-flight connectivity programs, power ports introduction to the plane, “remember me” feature, on board purchase features, and some others as will be seen in details later . American airlines have revolutionized the airline industry when they initiated the passenger services over 50 years ago. Up to date, American Airlines has not relented on its commitment to investment in technology and innovation so as to achieve customer satisfaction. From an advanced AA web site to a Self Service Check In, it has evolved its technology to serve the changing demands of the airline industry and of its customers. The AA website offers more tools and more options to the passengers; it has become more convenient in general. Therefore, most customers will continue using American Airlines services. The airline boasts of being the leader in innovation, as it was ranked 11th in the Information Week 500, which is a rating of the most creative organizations in the US. In 1998, American Airlines became the foremost airline to present electronic ticketing across the 44 countries it operates in (Mallarino 170). The AA website receives about 1.7 million visits in a day and is considered the biggest distribution channel in America as well as the best platform of online business within the airline. The airline has the reward packages for passengers who book their flights online get a discount guarantee, and there is no booking free of charge. The American Airlines also has a Mobile platform. The platform is a useful tool to the modern connected passengers and is the main force behind the airlines technology being developed to ease travel for the passenger (Stacks 45). The Airline also has a travel package commonly known as the American Airlines Travel Application. This application has been created with focus on the distinct characteristics of a particular mobile device, which enables timelier and simpler updates as new tools are created and released. This makes the American Airline remain ahead of other companies in terms of application innovation. These applications are available on various platforms including iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone, Blackberry, Android, Windows Phone 7, Amazon Kindle Fire, Barnes, and Noble NOOK Color Readers Tablet (Geza 45). The Airline has a Mobile Boarding pass chance that applies to passengers using American Eagle and American Airlines flights in about 80 cities and 10 international airports. The passengers have the option of receiving their boarding passes on their mobile phones when they book flights in the AA website using either the mobile or desktop version. The passenger is sent an email with a link to a boarding pass with a 2-D barcode. This barcode can be used at select American Airlines gates and TSA security checkpoints by scanning the 2-D barcode. The Wi-Fi widget enables customers to find out if the flights they have booked will be Wi-Fi enabled. The in-flight connectivity is a very important tool for leisure and business passengers (Cearly 60). The AA website enables passengers to receive computerized information about their flight status on their mobile gadgets through voicemail or email, and these include gate information and arrival time, so the customers do not have to go the airport or travel agencies to receive such information. The AA website includes a collection of the available destinations that can be booked for by the costumers. If they are waiting for the flight’s status update, it can also be obtained from this website. The American Airline has also introduced a self-service-check-in whereby the domestic customers can check in and are given their boarding passes in as little as 72 seconds. This is made possible by more than 850 machines at airports worldwide, which provide fast transaction periods. The fact that these machines are fast also saves more time for the passengers and saves them the agony of dealing with non-friendly employees in case there were any. Approximately 50% of the domestic American passengers use this system and about 80% of the domestic customers use either self-service, curb-side, or book their passes at the comfort of their homes using the AA website (Norwood and Wegg 70). The most recent version of self-service machines include credit card readers, passport scanners, and barcode scanners, all of which ease the process of checking in for both international and domestic flights by reducing the time passengers take to check in. American Airlines is also putting up self-service machines in all local American Eagle and American Stations that are not equipped with the machines. Other than speeding up the check-in process, the self-service machines provide passengers with a lot of value-added options. For example, they give the passengers the option of buying Admirals Club day passes, changing a seat, buying upgrades, or confirming a change in flight (Gittel 66). Passengers traveling to international countries also have the opportunity of using self-service check-in machines at various airports across the globe. Passengers can quickly choose their preferred route and register for their flights by just swiping their credit card or passport at the self-service-check-in machines. In case a passenger does not own a passport that can be used in the machine, he or she can follow the instructions on the screen so as to enter the data manually. The American Airline also introduced an AAdvance Bag Check Program where passengers can easily check in and drop off their bags for American flights at distant locations such as convention centers, onboard cruise ships, and hotels. Passengers can register and drop off their bags for local flights 24 hours earlier at the AAdvance Bag Check station. These bags are then ferried directly to the airport for departures, so the passengers do not have to handle their bags until they reach their destination. Other than registering their luggage, travelers also get their boarding passes and this enables them to go straight away to security screening at the airport (Shumsky, Blue Airlines 100). American Airlines also has an In-Flight Connectivity system. As a method of enhancing its passenger travel experience, American Airlines became the first airline in the U.S. to commence Aircell’s Internet Broadband Service called Gogo, which is a test on Boeing 767-200 airplanes which mainly do transcontinental flights. The main routes include Los Angeles to Miami and New York to San Francisco. This service is available in every class for a certain fee and provides Internet services to passengers who have personal WI-FI enabled devices such as smart phones, laptops, and PDAs. Being available in every class shows that there is no discrimination among the passengers for the enjoyment of this facility. These Internet services include access to personal email accounts, web, and VPN access to networks and corporate emails (Howard 60). The speed of Gogo connections is the same as those of wireless broadband mobile services. Gogo can only provide the passenger with data services which slow down cell phone use and Voice over Internet protocol services that are not allowed by the American Airlines. Additional services that Gogo provide include flawless exposure within the U.S. 10,000 feet above the ground, suitability with common VPNs that are use in email and corporate intranets, and approved access to the AA website that involves services like fares and AA advantage information. American Airlines also introduced power ports in its airplanes. Passengers are fitted with a DC power design outlet producing up to 15 volts of direct current. On most American airplanes, especially in Business and First class, you will find a power outlet in every seat. In the Coach Cabin, the power outlets are fitted at selected rows. These outlets may be used to operate DVD/CD players, lap top computers, or charge mobile devices with a maximum capacity of 75 watts. The outlets are put on top of the seat frame beneath the seat cushion or placed on a seat console. In the coach cabin, passengers can identify rows that are equipped with the power outlets by looking for a lightning bolt symbol at the overhead bin rows. The passengers can also find this information on the AA Timetable. The airline also has a cell phone policy. American Airlines recognizes that it is vital to keep in touch with friends, business associates, and family when traveling; making full use of the passenger’s schedule, it became the foremost airline to offer travelers more talk time while on the ground giving extra minutes to communicate with family and friends. The laptop computers, cell phones, pagers, and PDAs can only be used before the airplane door is closed and after the plane lands. This is done to implement the Federal Communication Commission rules. However, this is substituted by the use of In-Flight Satellite phones. The travelers can change the flight period into quality time by checking voicemail, arranging meetings, or calling home using this system. Global communications are accessible on all American Airlines Boeing 767 and Boeing 777 airplanes nearly all the time when worldwide and over North America. American Airlines boasts a system of On-Board Purchases. It was the foremost US airline to allow passengers to use credit cards when paying for headsets, alcoholic beverages, and food. Using state of the art wireless portable devices debit and credit cards can be used by swiping the card on the device and getting a receipt for the process. American Airlines has a Remember Me Feature which makes it quicker and easier for AA advantage customers to get their travel information. American’s “Remember Me” feature makes it convenient for AA advantage affiliates to view their travel information (Norwood and Wegg 15). Upcoming flights are accessible just a couple of minutes after the start of a call to AA reservations; therefore, the customers can get their flight information and bypass navigating through the automated menu. Using this feature, customers who have registered with AAdvantage can be recognized each time they make a call using the phone numbers they registered. The AA advantage saves a maximum of three numbers per registered customer, so the customers can get the information they require whether they are calling from home or work. The innovative development of the American Air flight is evident and this has given it a free ticket to the top of other flights internationally. These improvements act as an example to other flights to follow suit and other flights are already doing the same. In the long run, the flight industry will as a whole be technologically a head and this will lower the cost of travelling by flight. American Airlines still deserves to be where it is because of all the innovations the company has made, and it looks like the company is constantly progressing (Shumsky, Introductory Integrative Cases 116). Works Cited Cearly, G. American Airlines :American Leadind. New York: Routeledge Publishers, 1999. Forty, S. . "The American Airlines and the Developments ." Journal of the State of Airlines (2010): 44-57. Geza, S. Classic American Airlines and the Management. Zenith: Zenith Publishers, 2003. Gittel, J. "Using the Power of Airlines to Achieve High Performance." Southe West Airlines Way (2005): 44-78. Howard, B. Adventure Guide to Bermuda. New York: Hunter Publishing Press, 2004. Mallarino, S. "American Airlines:A Stragic Plan for the Industry." Journals for the Airline Services (2011): 32-34. Norwood, J. and P. Wegg. North American Airlines Handbook. Washington D.C: Airways International Printers, 2002. Shumsky, R. Blue Airlines;Network Airline Revenue Management. 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