American Airlines Overhauls App to Give Passengers More Self-Service Control

American Airlines this week unveiled a slate of upgrades to its mobile app that will give passengers more direct control over their itineraries.

While there are several changes coming to the platform, the most notable for passengers is the integration of disruption support. If a flight is delayed or canceled, passengers can now view specific reasons for the delay and access rebooking options, bag tracking, and digital meal or hotel vouchers in one place.

In the next few months, American will also give passengers the ability to split a joint reservation into separate itineraries directly in the app, allowing a single traveler in a larger group reservation to alter their plans without impacting the rest of the party.

That feature is a first for American and for the U.S. airline industry in general. If a traveler has four people on a single PNR (reservation) and one person needs to change their flight, they usually have to call the airline or use a GDS to “divide” the record. Soon, American passengers will be able to make that change directly on the app.

Additional updates intended to streamline the travel experience include gate-to-gate maps with walking time estimates for connecting passengers, expanded in-app purchases—such as Priority Group 4 boarding and discounted AAdvantage miles during check-in—and a redesigned interface to simplify seat selection, upgrades, and other special requests.

Aside from the group feature, some of the other upgrades are playing catch-up to other U.S. carriers. The Fly Delta app, for instance, has had interactive airport maps and real-time bag tracking for nearly a decade, and United provides specific text and video explanations for delays and automatically pushes meal and hotel vouchers via its app.

While American has previously offered versions of these tools, the new “all-in-one” hub for vouchers and rebooking brings the carrier to parity with United’s highly praised “Connection Assistant” and other industry-leading digital recovery tools.

“Our goal is to build digital tools our customers actually want to use every time they travel,” said American’s Chief Customer Officer Heather Garboden. “Each update builds toward a smoother, more connected experience that reflects how people actually travel today, and as expectations change, so will the app.”