Mar 27 2025
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Insane: American Airlines Forbids Agents From Assisting With Standby

By Leila

a woman standing behind a computer

If American Airlines really wants to be a premium carrier, it needs to stop alienating passengers with ridiculous standby policies that could not be more customer-unfriendly. Come on AA, this is such a low-hanging fruit…

A Silly Rule American Airlines Forbids Agents From Assisting With Standby…Even On Wide-Open Flights

I’ve highlighted this issue with a very specific example before, but here’s another example at AA’s major Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) hub:

 

The truth is not that the agent did not have time (though some gate agents are overworked) but that she was not allowed to help…and that is by design. Put simply, AA has instituted several standby rules that make it unnecessarily difficult to go standby on an earlier flight:

  • In an attempt to reduce staffing costs and direct people to use the app and sign-up for AAdvtange, AA has forbidden gate agents and other airport staff from adding passengers to the standby list from their end, unless the passenger holds Platinum Pro status or above in AAdvantage
  • Passengers who are not AAdvtnage members cannot even standby for an earlier flight and members must use the app to go on standby
  • You must place yourself on the standby list at least 45 minutes before departure

Let’s talk about the silliness of that last point.

Imagine you are flying from Columbus to Los Angeles via Dallas. You get into Dallas early and notice there is an earlier AA flight you can take to LA…it departs in 40 minutes. Sorry, you are out of luck. But had you added yourself earlier to the standby list, you might get stuck on a connecting flight you’d miss if your first flight did not arrive early or was delayed waiting for a gate (it happens often with American Airlines). It’s a lose-lose situation for the passenger and lacks common sense.

And let’s not forget the operational upside to placing passengers on earlier flights. As View From The Wing notes, “When a plane has extra seats available, it actually helps the airline to put people in them. Not only does it drive customer loyalty, it makes the operation more efficient – and keeps them from having to deal with costly passenger delays from bad weather and mechanical issues that can creep up later. American Airlines doesn’t see it that way.”

Indeed, this policy suggests AA simply sees passengers as pesky annoyances, not real people with lives and time that are valuable.

VFTW also points out another paradox:

  • Standby is not allowed if you have checked bags, unless you are an AAdvantage elite
  • Once you check a bag, you can no longer add yourself to standby using AA’s mobile app
  • But Gold and Platinum AAdvantage elite members are not allowed to add themselves any other way

Again, why? Why make it so difficult? The functionality is there to move people onto an airlier flight with just a few keystrokes in QIK (Ctrl C, F3, option 3). Why would you possibly alienate customers instead of getting them on their way earlier?!

This is what separates a premium carrier from an airline that just doesn’t care…an airline that has a laser focus on on-time at the expense of common sense. We call that penny wise, pound foolish.

Now is a great time or AA to revisit this policy and either fix its tech issues so that anyone and everyone can list themselves on standby using the AA app…or (better yet, and) empower agents to help. People will reward that with loyalty.

> Read More: American Airlines Agent: “We Don’t Do Standby At This Airport”

image: American Airlines

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