American Airlines has added a genuinely useful feature to its mobile app that aim to answer a simple question passengers always have when flights are delayed or cancelled: what exactly is happening right now?
The new features include prominent in-app notifications that appear when a flight is delayed, at risk of cancellation, or impacted by crew, maintenance, or weather issues. These banners are meant to explain the cause of the disruption in plain language and guide customers toward next steps, whether that’s rebooking, monitoring the situation, or waiting for further updates.
To its credit, American is not pretending this is groundbreaking. In fact, United Airlines has been doing something similar since 2018. United’s app already provides contextual messaging during disruptions, including explanations for delays, automated rebooking options, hotel and meal voucher access when applicable, and clear prompts about what to do next. I wrote about United’s rollout of these features when they were introduced, and they remain one of the strongest examples of how airline apps can actually reduce stress instead of adding to it.
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on Live and Let's Fly.
