American Airlines loses bid to block O'Hare gate redistribution

A federal judge has sided with United and the City of Chicago in their dispute with American over gate allocations at Chicago O'Hare.

American sued the Chicago Department of Aviation in an Illinois circuit court this summer, asking for an injunction to block the city's plan to allocate five more gates to United and take away four of American's gates, effective in October. The case was originally brought by American in May, but in federal court.

Under O'Hare's formula, gate access is redistributed based on how much each carrier utilized their gates during the previous calendar year. The changes would take effect in October.

United and American both hub at O'Hare, but United, which is headquartered in Chicago, is bigger there and built back from the pandemic much quicker at O'Hare than Dallas-based American, increasing its annual seat count lead at the airport between 2019 and 2024 from 9.3 million to 13 million.

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American Airlines Taps Ex-Senior Delta Air Leader To Redesign The ‘Entire Inflight Experience’


American Airlines has managed to convert an ex-senior executive at Delta Air Lines into its fold, hiring Rhonda Crawford as its new senior vice president of customer experience design. In this role, she will oversee the entire passenger journey, including premium lounges and the entire in-flight experience.

Crawford previously worked for Delta in a variety of senior positions, starting off at the Atlanta-based carrier as its vice president of eCommerce in 2014 and 2015. By the time she left Delta last September, she had become the airline’s senior vice president of Digital.

In fact, much of Crawford’s work experience is in digital communications and strategy, but at American Airlines, she’ll be taking on a role that has a much more direct impact on the passenger experience.

In a LinkedIn post announcing Crawford’s appointment, American Airlines said: “We’re thrilled to announce Rhonda Crawford as our new Senior Vice President of Customer Experience Design. In this role she’ll lead the overall customer journey design – from our lounges and premium guest services to the entire inflight experience.”

Crawford will be working within AA’s newly created Customer Experience organization, which is headed by Heather Garboden.

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