They may oeprate under one roof, share check-in facilities, lounges, and gates, but American Airlines’ Five Star Service (premium ground service) is not available on British Airways flights at New York JFK…which strikes me as yet another needless example of AA faling to provide to an integrated premium experience for its most valuable passengers.

American Airlines’ Five Star Service Foolishly Excludes British Airways At New York JFK

I have clients who are traveling in British Airways First Class from JFK to London Heathrow on an American Airlines-issued ticket. BA and AA are joint venture partners (they share revenue and coordinate schedules, pricing, and marketing on transatlantic routes). The flight is an AA codeshare operated by British Airways and departs from Terminal 8 at JFK, the same terminal AA uses. The check-in facility is shared, as is the lounge.

Let’s just say these are high-maintenance travelers and they want an escort from the curb to check-in, through security, to the Chelsea Lounge, and ultimately to the gate…and they are willing to pay for it. A perfect opportunity for AA’s Five Star Service, right? This premium ground service was designed with these travelers in mind…the sort of travelers who pay top dollar to fly bread and butter routes in front cabins.

But oddly, the Five Star Service is not available when departing on British Airways flights from JFK. I called multiple times to confirm and was told, “British Airways doesn’t allow this with their flights” or “British Airways doesn’t like AA agents around their planes.”

Make it make sense!

The two carriers are supposed to be “metal neutral” (i.e., no difference between the two) and I simply see no legal or practical reason why AA cannot offer its (valuable) ground service to British Airways flights at JFK. If there is no agreement, make one. It’s a big deal for a certain subset of travelers that pay top dollar to subsidize the tickets of everyone else…would it really be so hard? The answer is no.

AA Must Capitalize On Low-Hanging Fruit

Here’s an example of American Airlines turning down money from exactly the sort of premium clients they are trying to win back…and at their own hub in a highly competitive city like New York.

My suggestion: take the money, escort them through security, to the lounge, and finally to the gate, then wait with them until they board…it’s not so hard, even if the AA agent is not allowed on the BA aircraft.

And for that, they’ll pay you essentially whatever you ask.

It’s like the annoying phone prompts when you call AA then are transferred to the domestic side every call, even though you specify international…stupid pressure points that make travel harder and turn passengers away. AA must get the little things right if wants to start competing with Delta and United for profit once again.

CONCLUSION

I know we’re talking about a top 1% problem here, but it baffles me that AA and BA make it so hard to request VIP ground service in JFK despite so much deliberate overlap. It’s time to fix this problem, which is a symptom of a larger problem at AA: a tendency to make it far too difficult for customers to hand their money to the carrier.