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March 1, 1999

Business Fare

Passengers Flood Cyberspace
With American Airlines Gripes

By JANE COSTELLO
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL INTERACTIVE EDITION

The pilots may be healthy again, but some American Airlines passengers are
sick of being taken for granted.

Irate travelers are flocking to Internet
newsgroups and online travel forums to air their grievances over the airline's attempts to placate customers in the wake of the sickout staged by pilots last month. In mid-February, American sent out a telegram-style mailing to Gold,
Platinum and Executive Platinum level
AAdvantage members offering frequent-flier bonus miles and upgrades. But the
airline has made no overtures to passengers who have yet to attain
precious-metal status.

"You call this apology?" writes James Patterson, a
participant on the America Online travel bulletin
boards. He characterizes American parent AMR Corp.'s decision to award
double frequent-flier mileage only to elite members as "pathetic."

When contacted about his electronic posting, Mr. Patterson, a consultant for
Stanford Medical Center who flew 150,000 miles last year and has 48,000
miles in his AAdvantage account, said he was inspired to write in when he
learned American had chosen to ignore the thousands of people who
experienced genuine hardship as a result of the sickout and now have nothing to
show for it.

"To put so many customers through this, and then to say 'Well, as a token, we'll
offer upper-echelon members who pay to fly us again a few more miles,' it's just
a disgrace," he says. "What about all their other passengers?"

Two years ago, when a strike by American pilots threatened to shut down the
airline, President Clinton ordered them back to work. Immediately following the
executive order, American launched a sale offering up to 50% off domestic and
international flights and awarded double mileage to all AAdvantage customers
for one month.

American did not return phone calls when contacted for this story, and its
corporate Web site isn't offering any comment.

Stacking Up Against Northwest

Unlike Northwest Airlines, which set up a special section on its Web site to
keep travelers posted on even the most minute developments during last
summer's pilot's strike, American used its site merely to post refund information
and suggest ways to check on canceled flights. Information about the sickout
and its aftermath can be found only by poring through news releases in the
"Corporate" section of the site.

"To be fair, Northwest knew the strike was coming," says Tom Parsons, editor
of BestFares.com magazine. "American was caught off-guard."

But even elite-level members have found reason to complain. The original offer
mailed to top-tier members and posted to the American Web site on Feb. 19
said the airline would award double mileage on flights taken between Feb. 18
and Feb. 28, excluding international destinations.

"Ten days ... that's it," began a Feb. 19 posting by "AAPlatinum," to
WebFlyer's "FlyerTalk" American Airlines forum. "We should get at least 4
[upgrade] stickers and more than 10 days for double miles. I believe we got a
month of double miles the last time and sticker-free upgrades for a couple of
weeks."

Given that top-tier fliers tend to travel a significant number of international
segments, a double mileage offer restricted to flights within North America was
seen by many as having limited value. Within five days, American extended the
period to March 7 and amended the offer to include international flights.

With the policy of elite appeasement already in motion, American introduced
"SAAve Around the World" fares on Feb. 21. Widely perceived in the industry
as the sale designed to win back the goodwill of the rest of traveling public,
American took out full-page newspaper ads to promote low international fares
and discounts up to 35% off domestic flights.

Anti-American Sentiment

But modems began to speed-dialup as consumers quickly discovered that the
new ticket prices were nearly identical to the fares offered by the airlines only a
few weeks earlier.

The 14-day round-trip fare between Los Angeles and Philadelphia was $398
on Feb. 9; it rose to $778 during the week of Feb. 15 and then fell to a "sale"
price of $388 on Feb. 21. The majority of American's fares, quickly matched
or even lowered by competitors, simply allow travelers to buy a ticket for the
same price they paid in January.

"These are the same fares they seem to put out every week or two," says Bill
Cohen, a consultant from West Covina, Calif., who participates in discussions
on the Prodigy travel bulletin boards. "It's like 'Oh, we're selling milk again this
week.' It's not a sale; it's something a good shopper should be able to find any
day of the week."

Although Internet bulletin boards have a well-deserved reputation for allowing
everyone to vent opinions without having to reveal any identities or potentially
relevant hidden agendas, the virtual anger being directed at American via these
forums is palpable. There currently are more than 30 distinct topics on the AOL
travel issue message boards, ranging from the flaming "GET BACK TO
WORK FLY BOYS" to the occasionally thoughtful musings contained in
"Whatever Happened to Customer Service?" eliciting enough responses to fill
an Airbus.

Rabid anti-American sentiment is sure to die down once things like labor
disputes or downgraded snack service begin to inconvenience passengers at
other airlines. But for now, passengers can still find solace in cyberspace before
their anger is archived.

Woo Hoo. Does this mean I'm famous?