American Airlines Mobile App: Maya Leibman talks about future features

Former AAdvantage President and current CIO, Maya Leibman gave an interview to Lori Ranson over at the Airline Passenger Experience Association blog, and talked about some of the new features that American has been testing with the mobile app.

One of the interesting items was this:

American has also conducted trials with mobile applications that would allow customers to pre-purchase items on the carrier’s buy-on-board menu. The trials were targeted to specific areas in the US. Leibman explains the testing entailed alerting the passengers to the items available for purchase on a upcoming flight.

There’s that great observation in Douglas Adam’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy:

…Civilization tends to pass through three distinct and recognizable phases, those of Survival, Inquiry and Sophistication, otherwise known as the How, Why and Where phases. For instance, the first phase is characterized by the question How can we eat? the second by the question Why do we eat? and the third by the question Where shall we have lunch?

Borrowing on that idea, I’d say that the three phases of civilized travel are Am I Going to Eat, What will I Eat, and What Do I Want To Order For Lunch From My iPhone.

If you find yourself with a tight connection to a long flight, it’s nice to know that when you get to the plane that there will be a Brisket, Lettuce, and Tomato sandwich with your name it.

Go here to read the rest of the interview.

Photo: American Airlines iPhone App
Credit: Cote on Flickr