The busy summer travel season is right around the corner and American Airlines is working to make travel easier for customers with new technology to assist passengers in making their connecting flights.
American Airlines is Deploying Connection Saver Technology
Between May 16 and September 2, American Airlines plans to operate more than 715,000 flights, this equates to nearly five flights departing every minute. The Fort Worth, Texas based carrier is introducing new technology to make the customer journey more convenient.
Beginning today, American is testing new technology at its hub at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) that identifies departing flights with connecting customers who might miss their flight.
If American feels that it can delay the flight without an impact to its schedule, it will propose a short hold to allow connecting customers onboard. This technology was developed in-house by the airline and should allow more customers make their connections and get to their final destinations. American plans to expand the test next to its hub at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT), followed by other hubs over the summer.
David Seymour, American’s Chief Operating Officer, had this to say about the carrier’s operation this summer:
“American is once again ready for the summer travel season thanks to the more than 130,000 American team members who make our airline safely move every day. We’re set to operate the largest schedules ever at many of our hub airports and have been hard at work for months to ensure our people, aircraft, facilities and technology will deliver for our customers.”
In addition to the connection saver technology, American is also introducing its new Flagship Suite onboard the Boeing 787 and opening a new Flagship Lounge in Philadelphia this summer. In a non-passenger friendly move, American is also trialing the removal of bread and butter for Economy and Premium Economy passengers on select long-haul routes.
Heather Garboden, American’s Chief Customer Officer, said this about the upcoming travel season:
“Caring for our customers is at the heart of everything we do, and we know expectations are high when customers are traveling for their hard-earned summer vacations. Whether it’s our redesigned app, improvements to our boarding process or other new technology across the operation we are excited for customers to have a new and improved experience traveling with us this summer.”
Fast Facts About American’s Summer 2025 Operation
- It will operate nearly 38,000 flights over Memorial Day weekend, which runs May 22–27. The most-traveled days for that weekend are May 22 and May 23, each with 6,471 departures.
- The airline is offering nearly 5% more flights than last summer, with 20% more flights departing Chicago (ORD).
- Its most-traveled day this summer will be July 6, with nearly 6,800 flights scheduled.
- American expects customers will check more than 50 million bags this summer. The airline had its best-ever bag handling performance over the first four months of 2025. The first checked bag is free for eligible AAdvantage credit cardholders traveling on domestic American Airlines-operated itineraries.
- Over the course of the summer, nearly five American flights depart every minute; that’s about one flight every 13 seconds.
- The airline is flying to five new and exciting destinations this summer.
- The top three destinations for customers who are redeeming AAdvantage Loyalty Points for summer travel are London (LHR), Orlando, Florida (MCO), and Boston (BOS).
- American expects to serve more than 55 million packages of Biscoff cookies and 240 million beverages on board its flights this summer.
- American currently offers more aircraft equipped with high-speed satellite Wi-Fi than any other carrier in the world, powered by Viasat and Intelsat. Starting in 2026, all AAdvantage members will be eligible for free Wi-Fi, sponsored by AT&T.
- American is proud to have the new U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Enhanced Primary Processing (EPP) system active at its two largest hubs (DFW and CLT).
Summary
With the busy summer travel season right around the corner, American Airlines is rolling out new technology that will work to lower misconnects for passengers at the carrier’s hub airports. The technology went into effect at the airline’s DFW hub today and will soon be expanded to Charlotte. All hubs are expected to have the technology by the end of the summer.
