American Airlines To Lay Off Hundreds Of Texans, Out Sourcing Contact Jobs

According to One Mile At a Time, American Airlines will be outsourcing hundreds of American jobs by the end of the month, claiming the move will provide customers with "an even higher level of support in the future."

Color me skeptical.

This will result in the loss of over 300 jobs in Arizona and Texas each.

Soon, over 300 Dallas workers will either find another job within the company, take advantage of the company's efforts to place them at another company, or receive a severance.

The new plan is that the new “Customer Success team” will comprise 135 "upskilled" team members who can handle complex travel issues, while other travelers will likely have to speak to a foreign customer service representative.

As someone who recently had a complex travel issue, I can say that so did the rest of the entire flight that was cancelled. We all had to make new arrangements to get home, many of us with connecting flights and luggage that went who knows where.

The average flight is 160 passengers, and if they all need help, that leaves "upskilled" customer service short 3 people- for one single flight. The day my travel plans got so incredibly marred, multiple flights were cancelled at that airport alone.

I think you can see what I'm getting at here- which is that any stranded passenger deserves high-quality help to get home.

And while I pride myself on being a patient and tolerant person, speaking to a customer service rep who may have a language or accent barrier can add another level of frustration to an already high-stress situation.

According to Customer Think, I'm not alone: "The overwhelming majority determined that Americans prefer to speak to American Call Center Agents."

Nothing against a foreign call center worker, but I have had several customer service interactions in which they didn't understand me or I didn't understand them- miscommunications that would not have happened with an American rep.

The change is reported to happen by March 30th- here's hoping all those Texas workers can find great jobs- and all of us flying can find our way home.