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American announces the closing of four Admirals Club locations

Earlier today, American announced their plans to eliminate 1,200 non unionized jobs to “to achieve the necessary financial savings by implementing sustainable, structural changes that will position our airline to compete and win. Like other workgroups, the ARP workgroup has been tasked with reducing annual employee costs by 20 percent, or $95 million.

That 1,200 people will loose their jobs is obviously more important, but also announced as part of AA’s plans, the closure of five Admirals Club lounges:

Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), Kansas City International Airport (MCI), Santa Domingo (SDQ) and Panama City (PTY) was based on a comprehensive analysis of American’s current Admirals Club network relative to our future lounge strategy, competitive positioning, facility investments, long-term and operating costs.

IAD, MCI and SDQ Clubs will close effective end of business July 31, 2012. The Panama City (PTY) Club will close end of business June 30, 2012

We expect no reduction in force for Premium Services beyond the impact of the Club closure. All current Premium Services employees will have a position and – in some cases – be eligible for new positions with the new tier system.

The Admirals Club website has been updated with the information.   After the closures, American will have 38 Admirals Club facilities around the world.

For an excellent summary of today’s announcements, go visit Terry Maxon’s blog at the Dallas Morning News

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12 Comments

  1. This sucks for me as I cover the both Panama and the Dominican Republic for work. The Admirals Clubs are more important to me outside the US as it provides me a place to get work done via wireless when cell service is not an option.

    1. @ WarmNuts – You make a good point. And wireless can also be hard to find outside the U.S. I was surprised to see SDQ closed.

  2. @ Golfingboy – Corrected. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Not sure if it was my dyslexia or my Oklahoma math skills! 😀

  3. AA announced today the closing of the southwest reservation office in Tucson in august. 700 agents currently work there and most will lose their jobs. This leaves reservation offices in raleigh and Dallas. Expect longer wait times when calling.

    1. @ Captain Carry-On – Thanks for the info. I read that agents were being offered the option of transferring to other call centers or working from home (similar to the way JetBlue reservation agents work from home). From KVOA News in Tucson:

      American Airlines representatives have confirmed to News 4 Tucson that they will be closing the Tucson-based Southwest Reservations Office, and will offer employees there the chance to work from home or transfer to another city.

      It was announced today to the 680 employees working at the center, located at 3350 E. Valencia Rd., that they would have the option to become a home-based representative, or move to Dallas or Raleigh, North Carolina – the sites of the remaining two reservation centers.

      Hopefully, it won’t impact wait times. Thanks for mentioning it!

  4. Ah! If AA wants to increase sales of premium (very profitable) seats, perhaps they should consider modest price cuts, rather than cutting services for those who already pay the price. What are they thinking? This move gives the premium class flyer even more reason to move to another airline whenever the schedule permits. Dumb move, AA!

  5. Maybe I need to read the article but is this in addition to the job cuts they announced when they first talked about bankruptcy?

    I think the move to home based agents makes sense since that is what Hilton does today and many a stay at home mom would love the opportunity and the convenience. Might be a better option than outsourcing it out of the country.

  6. “lose” vs “loose”, hate to be picky but please know the difference, AA.

    Typical of AA to close more lounges at international airports. I have a business class booking from LHR to LAX via a BA flight from LHR to IAH that gets me in early afternoon, and then a domestic connection from IAH to LAX late in the day.

    However, no lounge for me to relax and kill the 6 hr wait time at IAH. Worse, British Airways offers no lounge access if your ticket is an award ticket using AA miles! Now, I read that the lounge at IAD is closed too. See ya, AA, time to perform a write-off and move on.

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