American Airlines to Cut 600 Customer Service Jobs

American Airlines Group said on Monday about 600 jobs at its customer support team would be impacted, as the carrier works to rejig the team. “The immediate impact will be on roughly 600 jobs, but the company is looking to accommodate employees in other roles, which will mitigate the impact,” Carolyne Truelove, vice president of reservations and service recovery, told Reuters. The airline also said it would transition some of its lighter-touch contact center inquiries to international teams made up of American Airlines and partner support. Last week, American Airlines forecast its 2024 profit largely above Wall Street expectations as the carrier benefits from strong demand for international travel.

However, the airline has also revealed that it will create a new Customer Success team that will handle complex travel needs, streamlining its contact center organization in the process. The airline aims to simplify the process for customers with multiple issues by centralizing support into a single team instead of several teams to address various problems. American Airlines has assured the impacted employees that they will be allowed to apply for 135 positions within the new team. The carrier said it is working closely with impacted team members to support them through the transition and is offering them 'exclusive access to job openings throughout American Airlines.' Employees who do not secure alternative positions within the company will receive severance packages and outplacement support. The airline has stated that impacted team members will continue to work and receive payment through March 30. This move by American Airlines is part of a trend of companies reducing their workforces in the early part of the year, as seen with other major companies like the Los Angeles Times, Citigroup, Amazon, Google, and Alphabet.