American Airlines Awards San Francisco International Airport for Improved Customer Service

FORT WORTH, Texas, Feb. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- American Airlines employees at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) celebrated a customer service victory this week as the airline announced the top five airports to be honored for improved customer experience and innovative problem solving for the fourth quarter of 2010. The program is called the "Customer Cup," and the winners are announced each quarter.

"We created the Customer Cup to build competition between airport station teams who are focused on improving processes, products and interactions to deliver a better customer experience," said Mark Mitchell, American's Managing Director – Customer Experience. "A good customer experience is the foundation for building customer loyalty, and we recognize five stations each quarter that make measurable improvements in enhancing the travel experience for our customers."

Customer Cups are categorized and awarded by market size from largest to smallest stations according to flight activity. The award recognizes stations for their performance in serving customers at the airport across six primary customer touch points, including gate interactions, the boarding experience, delays and delay management, onboard interactions, baggage handling and baggage resolution. San Francisco was awarded the Customer Cup this quarter for significantly improving internal customer satisfaction ratings in several categories, including a 10-point increase in customer interactions and a five-point increase in baggage delivery. Other winners this quarter include Denver, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Ohio, and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

In order to better communicate across all departments, the SFO station has a joint communications team that includes representatives from every workgroup and focuses on performance, reliability, and measurements. The focus on one-on-one interactions with customers and an increased focus on priority bag delivery also contributed to the station's win this quarter.

"Winning the Customer Cup is a great honor for our employees because it comes right from the customer," said Denise Marrs, American's General Manager – San Francisco International Airport. "We recognize the importance of providing exceptional service and work hard every day to deliver on our standard of customer service. We strive to improve the experience for each and every customer. We're happy to know our customers see the results of our focus and dedication to do better."

The Customer Cup is part of a broader focus the airline has put toward improving the experience for its customers. With more than 250 employee teams across the network, the airline encourages all employees to bring forward ideas and solutions to improve the travel experience. With stations competing for the Customer Cup honor quarterly, employees who contribute earn network bragging rights and a party in their honor for working hard to improve the airline's customer service rankings.

"Given the challenges the industry faces, the Cup is a great way to recognize the accomplishments of our employees," Mitchell added. "It's through their dedication and ingenuity we can deliver exceptional travel experiences of our customers."

About American Airlines

American Airlines, American Eagle and AmericanConnection® serve 250 cities in 40 countries with, on average, more than 3,400 daily flights. The combined network fleet numbers more than 900 aircraft. American's award-winning website, AA.com®, provides users with easy access to check and book fares, plus personalized news, information and travel offers. American Airlines is a founding member of the oneworld® Alliance, which brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business, enabling them to offer their customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide on its own. Together, its members serve approximately 750 destinations in nearly 150 countries and territories. American Airlines, Inc. and American Eagle Airlines, Inc. are subsidiaries of AMR Corporation. AmericanAirlines, American Eagle, AmericanConnection, AA.com, We know why you fly and AAdvantage are trademarks of American Airlines, Inc. (NYSE: AMR)

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The address is http://www.aa.com

SOURCE American Airlines