FORT WORTH, TEXAS — American Airlines and Microsoft are partnering to use technology to create better, more connected experiences for customers and American Airlines team members, supporting the robust operations of the world’s largest airline.
As part of the partnership, American Airlines will use Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud platform for its airline applications and key workloads, significantly accelerating its digital transformation and making Microsoft one of the airline’s largest technology partners.
With travel and tourism this year expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels, the companies are preparing for a future where consumers expect their travel experience to mimic the rest of their lives — more connected, more personalized, and more on-demand than ever.
Through their partnership, American and Microsoft aim to use data and other digital technologies to meet customer demands while also streamlining business processes to give American team members the tools that enable a smoother travel experience for the consumers. For example, the companies envision a future where every aspect of the customer experience and airline operations will be optimized using advanced analytics and other digital technologies — from enhanced bag tracking and automatically rerouting flights based on weather conditions to using digital twins to simulate operations at major hubs and proactively adjust to increase efficiencies.
Using data to streamline operations and reduce travel pain points
Previously, gating decisions for American’s 136 gates at DFW required more manual involvement from gate planners. Now, the program can look at multiple data points simultaneously for the hundreds of daily arrivals, providing the capability to save more than a minute of taxi time per flight. That adds up to 10 hours of reduced taxi time per day, lower fuel usage, and decreased CO2 emissions.
Enhancing frontline collaboration to drive better customer experiences
Creating a cloud platform for the future of airline operations
In addition to their cloud partnership, the companies are deepening their relationship to support Microsoft employee travel. Through the highly preferred partnership with American, Microsoft employees will receive new, enhanced benefits when they choose American or its alliance partners for their business travel. Furthermore, American and Microsoft may use Microsoft employee feedback to inform future innovations to continue driving a more connected, seamless and personalized travel experience.