10 Big Sarcastic Thank-Yous to a Certain Well-Known Airline

Congratulations, everyone. You made it through another horrible summer of air travel. The days of looking at airplanes and airports as something “fun” — as opposed to something we all collectively endure — seem about as far in the rear-view as the last dinosaur who pirouetted his way off a cliff. The analogy feels apt as we inspect legacy carriers like American Airlines that just staggered their way through the high season against a backdrop of pilot shortages, riotously high passenger numbers and logistical headaches that often multiply by the hour.

At no point would anyone suggest that running operations for a big airline is an easy job but it’s also hard to ignore what feels like a constant bottoming out in terms of the customer experience. Put differently, it doesn’t have to be this way. Smaller, younger companies know things about how to treat people, how to put them at the center of every experience. It may feel a little soft to the old guard but breaking out of your technological chains and age-old processes to listen to your customers and — most importantly — your employees is the first step to redemption.

Why am I writing this story now? Certainly not to hit a company when it’s down. This is no hatchet job, I promise you. It’s a challenge to companies like American Airlines — and there are many of them — to…