I’m Deleting American Airline’s App and Reclaiming My [Phone] Space. Here’s Why...
Underwhelmed. If I had to use one word to describe how I felt about American Airlines’ mobile app, it would be “underwhelmed”. And, I’m not “trolling” or being overly critical. I’m just one of those people who believe that if something is going to take up space in my phone (or life for that matter), it has to really serve me.
American Airlines App UX:
Sure, it’s easy to use. You open the app up and your eyes are drawn to the Coronavirus travel alert. If you click into the alert, you’re brought to a page that gives tons of information on all things Corona — from updated change fee policies, to travel requirements, to what AA is doing to ensure a cleaner/safer ride.
Under the travel alert, there’s an offer to apply for a AAdvantage credit card. If you click into that, you can learn more about annual fees, read reviews, and check out the benefits of the card. I won’t go into much more detail on that, if you’re interested enough (and travel enough), definitely look into the card more, as you may find it beneficial.
The app also includes options to check your flight status, find your trip, book a flight, view notifications, sign up for or view information on the AAdvantage loyalty program, check out inflight entertainment, contact customer support, and a few other things not worth mentioning. I say all this to say that while the app is easy to navigate, the overall user experience seems very surface level. In other words, it seems as though AA’s app was designed with generic consumer insights in mind. The app duplicates much of the content from the website, and lacks experiential (and other innovative) features that would deem it worthy of taking up space on my phone.
What the App is Lacking
Companies shouldn’t just have apps for the sake of having an app. Rather, an app should be an extension of a company’s website; it should elevate the experience and offer additional, unique features that the website does not. It should demonstrate that the company understands their consumers to the core, and is fully knowledgeable about their clients’ emotions, behaviors, etc. By those standards, AA’s app leaves much to be desired.
I don’t have all the answers. Or, at least, I haven’t thought long and hard enough to come up with various ways AA can fix their app. But off the top of my head, I think it would be interesting if AA collabed with or “borrowed” ideas from the SkyGuru app and the Infinite Flight app.
SkyGuru boasts the ability to predict turbulence based on weather forecasts. Further, it also uses a phone’s “sensors to help identify what is happening at every stage”. In other words, it helps set flyers at ease by explaining noises and bumps encountered while enroute. Incorporating such a feature would be great for nervous flyers or people suffering from full out aerophobia.
Infinite Flight is “flight simulation in the palm of your hand”. This particular app allows consumers to choose an aircraft and simulate a flight. But, It would be cool if AA adopted the app and enabled consumers to choose the specific AA plane they’re flying in. Then individuals could act as the pilots during their AA flight by utilizing realistic images to practice take-offs, routings, approaches and landings.
Final Word
All in all, although American Airlines’ app is fairly useful and easy to navigate, it does not offer enough to keep me invested. I didn’t mention it previously, but the aesthetic of the app is just as blasé as the content. I’m not one for graphic design, so I’ll leave further commentary on that for the experts.
I personally think that AA needs additional features to make their app more interactive and engaging. AA could take a deeper look at their customers to decide what specific features would make the most sense for their brand. This could include attributes similar to SkyGuru’s, which speaks to the nervous flyer. Or, attributes comparable to Infinite Flight, which speaks to those looking for experiential entertainment. But until American Airlines improves their app, I’ll be reclaiming my phone space because I’m very much underwhelmed. And, since there’s not much difference between the two, I’ll just delete the app and visit the website whenever I need to engage with American Airlines.
