Introduction
A product is anything that can be accessible from the market to satisfy wants or needs. The varieties of products that can be marketed by a company include physical goods, services, events, places, persons, properties, organizations, information, ideas, and experiences. In light of this, American Airlines (AA) offers products and services that are mostly flight-specific to its passengers. Even though AA is the largest airline in the world passenger fleet size and transportation, it is constantly looking for ways to serve its passengers and reviewing many new ideas to cater to its customers. Therefore, the following paragraphs describe the major products and services provided by the AA including destinations and flight services, onboard services, shipment services, gifts, and quality improvement products and services.
Destinations and Flight Service
In the context of destinations, the AA operates in four continents: South America, North America, Europe, and Asia. For instance, Dallas and Miami hubs act as gateways to the Americas. Whereas for Europe, the Chicago hub acts as the gateway. Consequently, the main entry for America and Europe is the Kennedy airport, while St. Louis and La Guardia act as local hubs. Thus, AA is thought of as the largest airline with the highest number of destinations, preceded by Continental Airlines. Among the scheduled flights which the airline operates in international locations include Bolivia, Saint Vincent, Anguilla, and Uruguay. According to the American Airlines management, non-stop airline services include the operation from Chicago to Shanghai, Chicago to Beijing, Miami to Salvador and Horizonte, Dallas to San Salvador, and Fort Worth to Madrid. All these flight destinations are accompanied by well-trained flight attendants who ensure that customers’ requirements are met; the company views the flight attendants as an important part of its quality product. Therefore, concerning customer behavior and satisfaction, the company seeks to treat each customer with much respect and dignity.
On-Board Services
American Airlines fleet is about 620 aircraft, with phone handsets and full in-flight internet service using the Wi-Fi technology on its United States flights. This is a marketing strategy that enhances the services offered to its customers, especially the first-class passengers on very long flights; many of whom are business people whose high-priced tickets pay most of the freight.
Since marketing aims to meet and satisfy target customers’ needs and wants, there is a need to understand consumer behavior about their buying process (Kotler, 2003, p. 182). Thus, the AA invented the AAdvantage flyer service to reward constant clients and improve brand loyalty. One such invention occurred in the early 1980s when AA decided to offer free mileage credit to its customers by pioneering a frequency program.
The AAdvantage program is a traveler’s awards program in which the registered members earn miles every time they buy a genuine published fare ticket and fly on AA or any other subsidiary of the company; like the American Connection and the American Eagle. Customers can also gain bonus miles up to 25% for Business Class or 50% for First Class. However, because not every individual is a constant traveler, miles can also be received from non-travel-related partners including retail partners. For instance, AA has moved towards partnership marketing by working closely with Boeing in designing airplanes that fully satisfy American’s requirements. Other business partners include Air Pacific, Jet Airways, Alaska Airlines, and Gulf Air. This strategy has dramatically improved the image of the airline.
On-board services offered by any airline company are essential to the core business operations since this is the first impression of such a company. On its local flights within America, AA offers a buy-on-board program that enables users to purchase sandwiches and snacks among other products; most of the local flights take less than six hours. For international flights, premium services for food and beverages are available onboard. This caters to the meal requirements of the customers in case of habitual meal time. Consequently, the first class and business class travelers receive alcoholic drinks for free, while all classes receive non-alcoholic beverages for free. Furthermore, blankets and Headsets are provided within the flight depending on the type of flight (American Airlines). Other services include destination leads, flight condition information, schedule, and baggage information.
Airlines Cargo
Another important service offered by the AA is the international air shipping service which is carried out by AA Cargo. This offers full range accuracy in shipping products that are relevant to the flights. Among these services are (1) Priority Parcel Service (PPS) which enables customers to apply for shipment for their nearest flight out. The PPS is accessible in several countries; over 200. And therefore guarantees the uppermost boarding precedence, reliable transit time, and straight approval and recovery for U.S local shipments. Shipments of up to 100lbs per piece are delivered by PPS and it also considers special commodities like animal shipments, valuable cargo, human remains, perishables, and dangerous goods. (2) Expeditefs service enables customers to acquire the premier product with full tracking, alongside priority boarding and handling operating in over 100 global destinations. Transfers for domestic cargos are up to 100lbs, transferred in 195 minutes and international shipments may take up to 240 minutes. Besides, any uncompleted transaction is subject to100% refund. (3) Confirmedfs service is the AA Cargo’s main product with a complete delivery tracking, bulks of up to 300lbs, worldwide links, acceptance, and recovery at every AA Cargo terminal. Thus the minimum drops off times for this service are up to 180 minutes for domestic shipment and up to 240 minutes for international shipment (American Airlines Cargo).
Products and Gifts
Furthermore, AA is concerned with offering products and gifts to its customers to enhance the business objectives in a competitive marketing environment. Firstly, the Admiral Club Membership enables customers to have privileges like reservation assistance, computer and internet access, and exclusive special offers from other companies like Hertz and the Sky Mall. Secondly, the credit card offered by the company presents customers with easiness of purchasing goods and services from AA. Thirdly, AA gift cards are essential for customers who would prefer sending gifts to their beloved ones. The gift card is purchased and redeemed through the company’s website, AA.com. And, fourthly, the airlines’ museum gift shop is a good place for selecting various gift products like jewelry, books, toys, prints, and many more.
New Ideas
In the process of enhancing customer loyalty to its products and brands, AA has been able to implement new ideas in recent years. Among these ideas are:
- to supply a power plugin first class so that the business person could work on the computer longer than two hours normally provided by a battery.
- to supply an Internet connection with limited access to web pages and e-mail messaging.
- to offer 24 channels to satellite cable TV.
- to offer several CD audio systems that let each passenger create a customized playlist of music and movies to enjoy during the flight.
Conclusion
Therefore, AA has been able to acquire a larger market share by stimulating the demands for its products and services. One of such ways is through its dynamic website, in which customers can book flights, buy products such as membership cards and gifts. In addition, they can acquire information about flight destinations and place orders for cargo shipment. As discussed in the previous paragraphs, flight-specific services like air travel through many destinations and onboard services are the major services offered by American Airlines.
Works Cited
American Airlines. American Airlines Advantage; Products and Gifts. 2009.
American Airlines Cargo. Products and Services. 2009.
Kotler, Philip. Marketing Management. Eleventh Edition NY: Prentice Hall, 2003.