How is AA taking advantage of the Internet?

[ronaldl79]

In late 1994, a year before the "World Wide Web" took the Internet by storm, I asked the CIO of a multi-billion dollar company why his employer lacked a web presence. FedEx and UPS were already online, but not this company. They were already "ahead of the pack" with asset tracking technology co-developed with IBM, but their lack of a web presence confused me.

In early 1995, I again asked the same question. He still didn't have an answer. You guessed it, I asked again that same year and to my surprise, his reply was, "Ron, we're finally developing a web presence." Music to my ears.

Today, a web presence alone isn't enough. Technology is a lot different than 12 years ago and some companies are still maintaining a "Web 1.0" identity. While I think AA.com is a great "gateway" for AA, I have this question to ask:

What else is AA doing on the Internet?

One mistake many large corporations seem to make -- over and over again -- is ignore the increasing necessity of retrofitting their businesses for the "Internet era." I understand that AA employs at least one individual to monitor various websites and discussion forums for the company. Why isn't this same person suggesting ideas to engage new and existing customers alike beyond AA.com?

The reality here is that American corporations aren't innovative, nor imaginative. We're still operating on old ideas and thinking while we continue to miss new opportunities in a virtual environment which is limitless in potential.

If American is truly interested in finding new ways to differentiate themselves from the competition, then I'd think it would be wise to seek new opportunities online that doesn't encompass a few websites alone.

Here's my first suggestion for AA: Redesign AA.com. Need a little inspiration? Look no further than AA's own http://www.whyyoufly.com.

Why should AA care about any of this? Because another carrier will siphon away their customers via innovative Internet campaigns, tools and services. "Cute" and "inspiring" ad campaigns are wonderful, but how effective are they when fewer people are watching TV today? The Internet cannot be ignored. One cannot be comfortable because of their dominant position in an industry. There's increasing competition, pressure and challenges to address on a consistent basis.

Finally, another idea came to mind (and it's certainly not a new one): In an effort to find new savings, why won't AA consider "virtualizing" a portion of their workforce? Such a move would reduce real estate costs, taxes and other expenditures. They can start with reservations -- send those people home, deploy broadband and VoIP to each CSR, and watch the expenses fall while productivity and morale increases.

 

[whatkindoffreshhell]

Are you aapplying for a gig with AA?

Have you spoken to Bob Crandall about your ideas?

 

[TIME FOR CHANGE]

Who Is Bob Crandall

:huh:

 

[AMFAMAN]

What else is AA doing on the Internet?

Well for starters, monitoring our posts and at times trying to seize our hard drives.

 

[ronaldl79]

No. I have nightmares when I think of working for anyone, but I enjoy thinking about technology and American business. Through years of interacting with folks such as Bill Gates and others, I think I've learned a lot about technology and where American businesses are failing to best take advantage of it.

My issue with American businesses has always been the bureaucracy and "red tape" which only stifles innovation and our ability to better compete in the global marketplace.

If we can set aside our "egos" and "titles", we'd get a lot more done. Unfortunately, we rarely encourage fresh thinking to address the mounting obstacles we continue to face in our country and around the world. The most factual issue is that employees are literally dying to tell of their ideas and their employers aren't listening or doesn't provide an adequate channel to discuss them.

Even after all of these years of being "behind the scenes" of different companies, I am still disappointed by our progress. On the "outset", it appears we're doing a great job, but believe me -- we're not.

Are you aapplying for a gig with AA?

Have you spoken to Bob Crandall about your ideas?

 

[eolesen]

One of my marketing teachers asked a question -- when's the last time you saw someone advertise Morton Salt, Corn Flakes or Cheerios? Yet they're still top selling brands....

Flashy websites don't mean a thing if the product winds up being a piece of crap.

Go look at Southwest.com -- it's ugly, but effective, just like their aircraft.

AA.Com might not be as glitzy as other websites, but it handles a couple million hits a day without breaking, and that's what really counts.

And, for the record, AA has used home based res workers for at least two years, and done lots of other work in the area of "virtualization" during the past five years.

The reason you don't see it is because its focused mainly on doing business more efficiently than to entertain customers -- things like ePays, online benefits enrollment, and Jetnet. Just being able to use the web to book nonrev travel and keep track of buddy pass users resulted in eliminating 20 or 30 jobs between Res and corp HR.

All that probably seems pretty benign to a tech-savvy person like you, but eliminating manual work and unneccesary cost is far more important to companies like AMR.

 

[Connected1]

Ronald - I assure you that American does think about these things both within and outside of the context of AA.com. Naturally, our strategic direction and list of things we are considering are not a matter of public record. As with any other company, the technology that is visible to the customer today represents our thoughts from 2 years ago, the things that we implement this year represent our thoughts from last year, and the things that we are currently working on will be implemented sometime later. Web 2.0 has just recently picked up some buzz within the travel industry and there is a natural lag between buzz and product. To the extent that there are Web 2.0 concepts that we can adopt that result in sufficiently more bookings or better quality of revenue, we will certainly find a way to do it.