American Airlines' new phone system frustrates users with mandatory prompts

It continues with information on self-service options: "Did you know you can now do things like add a carry-on pet for flights within the U.S., request wheelchair service, and let us know about other special needs online? Go to aa.com to manage your trip and request additional services."

Some customers find this mandatory message inconvenient. One user remarked on having to hear irrelevant details every time they call due to frequent travel needs that cannot be managed through the airline's website or mobile app.

An analysis estimates that this change could result in significant wasted time. With American Airlines flying around 200 million passengers annually, if 15% need to call the airline and 30% of those need to call twice, it results in approximately 39 million calls per year. This translates into 39 million extra minutes spent listening to the message, equating to 650,000 hours lost.

Considering an average hourly wage based on U.S. per capita GDP ($33.65), this change costs customers roughly $22 million annually. Given that airline passengers typically have higher incomes (assumed at $100,000 annually), translating into an hourly wage of $48.08, the cost rises to approximately $31 million.

An American Airlines spokesperson commented on the update: "We recently updated the prompts our customers hear when they call our Reservations team. These updates include a new message to make customers aware of our self-service options online... We’re listening intently to our customers’ feedback about this update and will continue to evolve."

Critics urge American Airlines to restore the ability for callers to skip these prefatory messages by simply requesting an agent immediately.