Essay on American Airline Competitive Advantage

Holding a competitive advantage is a strategy applied by most organizations which enable them to maneuver competition in the market. American Airline has quite a large number of competitors since it is a global airline company. The competitors to the American Airline Company include Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways and United Continental Holdings (Tarver, 2017). American Airlines being at the top of its competitors, it seats at the second largest airline company. The airline market faces a lot of competition. With the advancement of technology, the Airline Companies have also advanced regarding their means offering services such as meeting customer's needs and company operations such as maintenance and communications. To withstand the competitive race, therefore, the companies have employed technological strategies to keep the customers engaged and to secure a competitive space to their competitors. Additionally, the application of technology has also facilitated efficient operations within the companies. This case study will focus on utilization of information technology by the American airline company to hold and maintain its loyal customers as well as the use of technology to facilitate its operations both within the company and other external maintenance.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Historic overview

American airline was founded on April 15, 1926, by C. R. Smith. This company has developed since then, and some of the key changes are significant regarding its competitors (Airlines, 2017). In 1945, the American Airlines started its overseas airline operation services. In November 1984, the American airline introduced the American Eagle System (Airlines, 2017). This was the first advancement in technology for an American airline. The American Eagle system was established to ensure data security solutions and to enable clients in managing their data. The American Eagle system also supported Audit services for the company (Airlines, 2017). The above software was used in the business with the goal of assuring their customers about the business continuity. The software also facilitated measures like risk mitigation, and therefore one of the biggest objectives of this software was customer solutions. The American Eagle system software also provided internal use of web-based applications as well as mobile applications that facilitated an improved management system for the American Airline Company (Airlines, 2017). In November 2008, the America Airline introduced the mobile boarding passes. The mobile boarding was used by customers to book and providing any required detail for securing a flight. Through the mobile boarding passes, the customers were able to locate the aa.com as well as booking flights from their localities. The mobile boarding pass was great advancement in terms of technology for American airline that pushed the company up above its competitors. Some of the American airline competitors like Southwest Airlines also introduced the mobile boarding pass (Airlines, 2017).

Current information technology

The American airline later introduced the SABRE on-line reservations system. This system enhances the business operation through improving the relationship between the company, customers, and other stakeholders (Sabre.com, 2017). The American airline SABRE online reservations have significantly changed the market position of the company. The SABRE online services have also maintained a competitive advantage for the American Airlines. This software has given the American airline company a better competitive advantage over its competitors. Through the SABRE online services, this company has achieved the market share advantage (Sabre.com, 2017).

The SABRE online service has facilitated the migration of the IT system of the American system to a single passenger service as of 2014 (Sabre.com, 2017). The milestone to have one reservation platform laid the background for employees and customers to experience seamless advantages throughout their journey. The SABRE platform is the current software that is being utilized by the American airline group. This particular platform has promoted in minimizing any disruptions within the systems by improving the customer responsiveness. The entire reservation system provides the best customer experience which includes flight schedules. Both customers and employees rely on this software to access the flight information that satisfies their needs. Preparation to fly the SABRE systems offers flight information regarding their status of the location where the customer's check-in and board the flights. Lastly, the SABRE system for the America airline company facilitates checking and retrieving of luggage where the employees use this reservation system to match and locate luggage according to their destinations (Sabre.com, 2017).

Through the advancement of information technology, the American airline has managed to keep its competitors as well as maintaining its capacity of customers. Technology has played the most significant role in keeping a secure competitive advantage for the American airline. This company faces a lot of competition, and for its international competitors, the application of IT has also been used as a marketing tool. The help of IT regarding the competitive advantage is that it has facilitated customer winning and company operations such as management and system maintenance strategies.

Conclusion

The application of technology concerning the American airline is something that has been going on for a long time since the company started by implementing IT systems such as mobile boarding pass and American Eagle systems. The technology advancements have played a great role in promoting customer needs as well as employee helping. Through the IT systems, therefore, the American airline's group has managed to maintain its competitive advantage.

References

Airlines, H. (2017). History of American Airlines - About us - American Airlines. Aa.com.

Retrieved 25 April 2017, from https://www.aa.com/i18n/customer-service/about-us/history-of-american-airlines.jsp

Sabre.com, (2017). American Airlines selects Sabre reservations system Sabre. (2017).

Sabre.com. Retrieved 25 April 2017, from https://www.sabre.com/insights/releases/american-airlines-selects-sabre-reservations-system/

Tarver, E. (2017). Who Are American Airlines Main Competitors? (DE, JBLU). Investopedia.

Retrieved 25 April 2017, from http://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/092315/who-are-american-airlines-main-competitors.asp