American Airlines employees at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) celebrated a customer service victory this week as the airline announced the top five airports to be honored for improved customer experience and innovative problem solving for the second quarter 2011. The program is called the “Customer Cup,” and the winners are announced each quarter.

“The Customer Cup was created in an effort to build some friendly competition across our network, while at the same time encouraging our stations to focus on improving processes, projects and interactions to deliver a better customer experience,” said Mark Mitchell, American’s Managing Director – Customer Experience. “We recognize five stations each quarter that make measureable improvements in the areas that matter most to our customers.”

Customer Cups are categorized and awarded by market size from largest to smallest stations according to flight activity. The award recognizes stations for their performance in serving customers at the airport across six primary customer touch points, including gate interactions, the boarding experience, delays and delay management, onboard interactions, baggage handling and baggage resolution. LAX was awarded the Customer Cup for improving internal customer satisfaction ratings in a number of key areas including baggage handling operations which have improved 22 percent year over year. Other winners this quarter include San Francisco International Airport (SFO), Kahului Airport – Maui (OGG), Montreal-Trudeau Airport (YUL) and Jose Maria Cordova International Airport – Medellin, Colombia (MDE).

The American team in Los Angeles credits customer service improvements to a focus on baggage initiatives and onboard customer interactions. In 2010, American Airlines and American Eagle employees boarded approximately 5.2 million passengers and handled approximately 5 million bags at LAX. Los Angeles is an important cornerstone city in American’s network and employees across all groups work together to strengthen the airline’s position at LAX and beyond to global markets.

“This quarter’s Customer Cup was due to the teamwork and focus of all our departments at LAX to improve the customer experience,” said John Tiliacos, American’s Managing Director – Los Angeles. “We’re happy to see our customers taking note of the exceptional customer experience we aim to deliver here in Los Angeles.”

The Customer Cup is part of a broader focus on improving the experience for customers. With more than 250 employee teams across the network, the airline encourages all employees to bring forward ideas and solutions to improve the travel experience. With stations competing for the Customer Cup honor quarterly, employees who contribute earn network bragging rights and a party in their honor for working hard to improve the airline’s customer service rankings.

“A good customer experience is the basis for building customer loyalty,” Mitchell added. “The Cup is a great way to credit employee accomplishments. Because of employee commitment we can deliver positive travel experiences around the world.”

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