American Airlines to lay off hundreds in customer service shakeup

American Airline is laying off hundreds of call center workers – but says it will increase customer service delivery standards.

The airline’s call center reorganization will see 656 employees laid off and some  services outsourced.

It impacts 335 workers in Phoenix and 321 in Dallas-Fort Worth.

“This will help us better serve our customers. As part of these updates, we are creating a new Customer Success team that will be dedicated to providing more convenient, elevated support,” the airline said.

The affected workers deal with baggage issues and loyalty program queries.

Moving forward, the new organizational structure will consolidate all customer service together into one large assistance team.

Some ‘lighter-touch’ customer service issues will be outsourced to overseas contact centers, which operate 24 hours.

The laid-off employees will leave at the end of March and can apply for one of 135 positions in the new Customer Success team.

Related News Stories: American Airlines launching nonstop flights to Reykjavik American Airlines axes Austin routes American Airlines pilots’ union threatens to strike American Airlines inks carbon removal purchase agreement … American Airlines dropping London flights from Seattle American Airlines set to start nonstop Tokyo flight from JFK … American plans new Japan flights American Airlines ends onboard duty free sales American Airlines flight makes emergency landing at Dallas … Aer Lingus expands American Airlines codeshare