American Airlines Makes Surprise Gains With Customers, Survey Shows

BusinessAerospace & DefenseAmerican Airlines Makes Surprise Gains With Customers, Survey ShowsByTed Reed,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Charlotte-based reporter Ted Reed covers airlines and airline labor.Follow AuthorApr 22, 2026, 12:55pm EDTApr 22, 2026, 12:57pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.American Airlines passenger crowd a terminal at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in June 2024.Ted ReedA new survey of airline customer satisfaction showed a marked improvement at American Airlines even as rivals have repeatedly suggested that American is falling behind them.Airline customer satisfaction overall gained 3% from 2025 to 2026 and American led with a 7% gain, according to the survey by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based provider of customer analytics products that was founded at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.The ongoing expansion of the availability of inflight internet access, led by Delta, appears to have been a factor in increasing airline customer satisfaction. At the same time, the ability of unhappy passengers to complain on social media continues at an unrelenting pace. Delta remains the highest rating airline in the survey.“From a customer experience viewpoint, the industry makes notable gains,” the survey said, noting that the industry’s 2026 ACSI score is “just one point shy of its all-time high of 77 from 2024.“The overall improvement flows from across-the-board score increases in all aspects of the flying experience, with especially large jumps in ratings for technology-enabled offerings like in-flight internet access (up 20% year over year) and the usefulness of flight information provided by the airlines (up 15%).“This marks a significant milestone in their deployment of tech in direct provision of enhanced customer experiences,” th...