As of February 22, American Airlines passengers (except elite fliers) won’t be permitted to stand by for a different flight for free.
American Airlines, under their current system, allows all of its paying passengers free standby privileges for a different flight on the same day of travel. But that standby policy will be abolished a week from next Monday, unless customers are elite AAdvantage members (Gold, Platinum and Executive Platinum), passengers in first class and business class, passengers who bought higher-priced coach tickets, and those flying on military fares.
Passengers flying on the same reservation with fliers in those categories will be able to standby for free as well. Military members can pass along their privilege to spouses and immediate family.
All other customers will have to buy a “Confirmed Flight Change” for $50 if they want to switch to another flight.
It seems that American will also be willing to sell the “Confirmed Flight Changes” for $50 to those elite customers as well, if they don’t want to stand by for a possible open seat, but would rather have a confirmed seat on another flight.
So, American joins Continental and Delta with standby fees. United still allows free standbys but charges more for premium seats. Southwest and JetBlue allow standbys, but charge a difference in fares in some cases.
This is a big change in airline customer service. Once upon a time, the airlines were pleased to move passengers to earlier flights to get them on their way. The thinking was that a passenger on board a flight was one less problem to deal with if there was foul-up later in the day.
I guess, that way of thinking has gone the way of nickle fares on the Boston MBTA.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
