American Airlines To Lay Off Customer Support Employees

(RTTNews) - American Airlines has announced that it will be implementing a workforce reduction plan in its customer support department.

This plan will result in the layoff of 656 employees who are part of the AAdvantage Customer Service, Customer Relations, and Central Baggage Resolution groups. The layoffs will affect 335 employees in Phoenix and 321 in Dallas-Fort Worth.

However, the airline has also revealed that it will create a new Customer Success team that will handle complex travel needs, streamlining its contact center organization in the process. The airline aims to simplify the process for customers with multiple issues by centralizing support into a single team instead of several teams to address various problems.

American Airlines has assured the impacted employees that they will be allowed to apply for 135 positions within the new team. The carrier said it is working closely with impacted team members to support them through the transition and is offering them "exclusive access to job openings throughout American Airlines." Employees who do not secure alternative positions within the company will receive severance packages and outplacement support.

The airline has stated that impacted team members will continue to work and receive payment through March 30. This move by American Airlines is part of a trend of companies reducing their workforces in the early part of the year, as seen with other major companies like the Los Angeles Times, Citigroup, Amazon, Google, and Alphabet.