New American Airlines program aims to improve customer experience at Charlotte airport

Hannah Smoot
·2 min read

American Airlines officials detailed improvements on Thursday to the customer experience at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

Company leaders spelled out those changes during a quarterly business call with reporters and analysts.

In the spring, American introduced what it is calling Five Star Essentials at the Charlotte airport, along with Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Miami International Airport.

The program provides help for passengers navigating the airport or making a tight connection. The service is available for $149 for up to two adults and three children, and $25 per additional person.

An American Airlines employees will meet customers who purchase the service at priority check-in, or at their plane for connections. Customers must make a reservation at least 72 hours before their flight.

Such services could be useful as American continues to add routes at Charlotte Douglas and other airports.

American plans to operate more than 150 new routes across its airports this summer, according to an earnings report released Thursday morning.

American Airlines, the dominant carrier at Charlotte’s airport, introduced improvements to CLT customer flight experience called Five Star Essentials.
American Airlines, the dominant carrier at Charlotte’s airport, introduced improvements to CLT customer flight experience called Five Star Essentials.

The airline expects to add three new gates at CLT by the end of the year, and hire hundreds of new employees across its airports. And the airport has implemented other changes as well, including a rate hike for all airport parking lots that launched this month.

American expects to fly more than 90% of its domestic seat capacity and 80% of its international seat capacity compared to 2019, according to the company’s earnings news release.

International travel expectations

American Airlines leaders expect international travel to recover at a slower rate due to travel restrictions and vaccination levels in other countries.

But the demand is still there, American Airlines President Robert Isom told reporters and analysts on the morning call. Whenever travel restrictions are loosened in some countries, American sees a quick increase in bookings, he said.

“There is significant pent-up demand for international travel,” Isom said. “For example, demand for travel to Europe has increased considerably in recent weeks with the reopening of the EU.”