FORT WORTH, TX / ACCESSWIRE / August 14, 2024 / American Airlines is the first U.S. airline to introduce an automated mobility aid trailer, part of an ongoing commitment to improving wheelchair and mobility aid handling across its network. The trailers were developed in-house by American’s technology team and are currently being deployed at airports where American Airlines and its regional partners operate.
“American is committed to improving the travel experience for our customers who use wheelchairs and mobility aids,” said Julie Rath, American’s senior vice president of Airports, Reservations and Service Recovery. “Streamlining the check-in and tagging process is an industry-leading effort that will help us further improve the wheelchair experience for our customers who trust us to transport their mobility aids on their travels.”
New automated tags replace the previous manual tags and include customer and device-specific data such as travel routes, delivery locations, device weight, battery type, and the number of items picked up and taken on board. This additional information provides more accurate and consistent information for team members handling the devices and provides better visibility of devices throughout the customer’s journey. Automation also makes device information easier to share across frontline team members’ applications, ensuring team members have the right information at the right time.
American has implemented numerous improvements across its operations to provide a more positive and smoother travel experience for customers with wheelchairs and mobility aids. These measures have helped American improve the handling of these devices. American’s mobility aid handling rate improved by nearly 13% from the first half of 2023 to the first half of 2024.
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Practical training for team members: Through an outside organization, American provides in-person training on mobility aid use to members of its airport customer service and customer operations teams and its vendor partners. This supplements the comprehensive web-based training provided to all American airport team members.
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Investments in airport infrastructure: Wheelchair operators have been deployed and lifts installed at the airline’s hubs and other high-traffic airports, helping to reduce the risk of damage to mobility equipment and injury to team members.
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Optimizing the travel experience: American has made it easier for customers to add and manage wheelchairs and other mobility devices in their travel profiles. Starting this fall, customers can conveniently access their saved travel preferences, such as traveling with a mobility device or service animal, and apply their data when managing them on aa.com for any upcoming trip. By allowing customers to manage these needs digitally, the airline ensures it has the necessary information to transport the devices safely and reliably.
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SOURCE: American Airlines
