FORT WORTH- American Airlines (AA) now issues performance scores to flight attendants, and onboard credit card approvals act as accelerators within that system.
Pitching the AAdvantage credit card inflight remains voluntary at American Airlines, and approvals earn flight attendants extra income. Details of the internal push come from aviation watchdog JonNYC rather than from the airline directly.
How Card Approvals Feed Into Crew Performance Scores
American Airlines issues scores to flight attendants. The airline says the purpose is “to help them know how they’re doing,” and low scores do not necessarily mean discipline.
Credit card approvals sit inside this framework. While pitching the card inflight is voluntary and earns flight attendants extra income for approvals, those same approvals also function as performance score “accelerators” in the new system.
A flight attendant who converts pitches into completed applications therefore benefits twice, once through commission and once through the score.
According to JonNYC, who posts on X under the handle @xJonNYC, the airline is making a major push to “get flight attendants excited about in-flight credit card pitches.”
Crew members are “being told just how much money they can make from them if they succeed (pay off loans, travel the world, etc).”
JonNYC added that passengers who dislike onboard solicitations should expect an increase in them, while also noting that the airline is stressing service quality alongside the sales message. None of this messaging has been confirmed publicly by American Airlines.
There are flight attendants earning six figures at airlines getting card approvals.
Missed Announcements
The number one reason that passengers do not apply, and flight attendants do not get paid commission, is that they do not make the announcements. Where the pitch never happens, no conversion is possible.
Against that backdrop, “it’s being emphasized that providing passengers exceptional service during the flight is the single best way to increase uptake.”
The psychology here is that customers who are happy with American are more likely to apply, and customers who feel well taken care of by a flight attendant will want to apply out of a sense of reciprocal obligation. That reframes the effort. Rather than pressing crew to read the script more often, the airline ties results to the quality of the flight that precedes it.
Criticism Of Onboard Credit Card Announcements
The way these announcements are done matters a great deal. Kevin Williamson described a certain “Clockwork Orange sensation [to] being literally strapped into a seat while someone screams corporate banalities at you on a loudspeaker fifteen inches from your head.”
He also mocked the recurring script, writing that it is a “limited-time” offer only in the sense that the sun will eventually burn out and leave the solar system cold and silent, interrupted at the end by a flight attendant still announcing the offer.
Timing sharpens the complaint. The announcement is often a wake up call at 6 AM after a redeye flight, or the first thing a passenger hears once airborne on a 5 AM departure.
AAdvantage Cardholder Base
Only about 14% of passengers on a given flight have an AAdvantage credit card, as reported by View from the Wing. That is a huge opportunity to grow the card portfolio.
The audience is also well matched to the product. The people most likely to be interested in the American Airlines credit card are those already flying American Airlines, which makes the cabin an efficient acquisition channel compared with outside marketing.
Seatback Screens And Cabin Space
One argument for airline seat back entertainment is that the entertainment can be paused during flight attendant announcements. When people use their own devices, they are free to ignore card pitches.
The suggestion follows that American Airlines should work with Citi, its card partner, to sponsor a return of the seatback screens.
A further proposal holds that American should increase the size of its lavatories and cover them with credit card ads.
A revenue stream would then attach to the lavatory space, and the airline would no longer treat the requirement to provide lavatories as deadweight loss. Both ideas are outside commentary, not announced airline plans.
Stay tuned with us. Further, follow us on social media for the latest updates.
Join us on Telegram Group for the Latest Aviation Updates. Subsequently, follow us on Google News
