By Shawn Gallagher
I’ve flown American Airlines for many years, ever since I was a little kid. I loved the airline growing up, as I always associated them with fun memories of going on vacation. It certainly helped that I wasn’t 6’1 tall back then and was able to enjoy kids meals on flights.
The airline has changed a lot since then. However, I still fly American a lot, and their AAdvantage loyalty program is still one of the best in the United States. With that said, there are a few parts of their domestic Main Cabin experience today I wish we could see improvements on.
1. Inflight Wi-Fi
The differences between American and other airlines are staggering when it comes to inflight Wi-Fi on domestic flights. Delta, JetBlue, and Hawaiian offer free Wi-Fi on domestic flights. Other airlines, such as United and Alaska, offer Wi-Fi at a cost, but still at a reasonable price.
American Airlines, however, offers Wi-Fi but at a significantly higher price point.
I recently flew from Boston to Chicago; American on the way there, and United on the way back.
This was on the United flight from Chicago to Boston. Messaging was free (iMessage, WhatsApp, etc), and Wi-Fi was $8 for the full flight. I thought this was fairly reasonable, especially since the aircraft I was on was refurbished with United’s new NEXT interior with IFE screens.
Conversely, my American Airlines flight, for the same flight time and route cost $24 for Wi-Fi on the whole flight.
It’s difficult to swallow this when I have to do work in the air. In addition, it’s not like American has IFE screens like some of United’s domestic interiors (and nearly all of Delta’s domestic fleet, and they still offer free Wi-Fi!).
There’s no reason for Wi-Fi to be at this high of a price point; improving this area of the inflight experience will create a more competitive product.
2. Boarding Process
American Airlines has a whopping 9 boarding groups in addition to pre-boarding. This can be confusing for passengers along with the several issues that come with having so many of them.
First, crowds can easily form around the gate upon boarding. Since there are only 2 lines for boarding (a line for groups 1-4 and a line for groups 5-9), people have no designated area to be when they wait, aside from the seats that get filled up very quickly.
Another issue is the jam that forms on the jetbridge and the plane during boarding. Because boarding groups are based on elite status, credit card, being an AAdvantage member, and Basic Economy fares, passengers are seated all over the plane. This causes a slower moving line during boarding.
Instead, boarding economy class passengers (after elite status members) from the back to the front could create a more efficient boarding system.
Related: American Airlines boarding groups, explained
Gate agents don’t always enforce boarding groups, either. However, this has got better with American Airlines introducing technology to enforce them.
3. In-flight Entertainment
IFE on American Airlines is no easy fix. Over the past decade, the airline began doing away with seatback IFE screens on its domestic fleet. This was replaced by a similar entertainment portal except on our devices.
Although there isn’t much of a difference content-wise, the convenience factor of the IFE screens can’t be beat. It can also be difficult for parents traveling with kids, who may be limited in the amount of devices they can pass around to them. I would appreciate it if they at least coupled this with free Wi-Fi.
Bottom Line
I still fly American Airlines a lot. Their route network and codeshare flights work great for me, and their AAdvantage loyalty program is fantastic. With that said, there are parts of their domestic Main Cabin experience that are lacking though, compared to other legacy carriers in the country.