Full text: American's memo about extending flight cuts

Below is the full text of the memo that American Airlines sent to its managers regarding the extension of capacity cuts through mid-November. Scroll down for the full text of the Oct. 12, 2012, memo:

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For All AA Managers

Subject: American Continues Efforts to Improve Operational Reliability with Schedule Adjustments for First Half of November

Summary

We are encouraged by the improvements we are seeing in some of the performance metrics we use to measure our operation, with some showing better trends than others. However, overall, we are not yet back to the levels our customers deserve and expect from American. So, we are extending our previously announced schedule reductions through the first half of November by approximately 1 percent. This will give us additional time to ensure the operation returns to a more normal pattern. This will not impact holiday travel for our customers.

Our people have done a tremendous job in assisting our customers, and we thank everyone for their dedication.

We will work to ensure these schedule changes have a minimal impact on our customers and will re-accommodate them quickly to limit the disruptions to their travel plans. We encourage customers to visit AA.com to check on their flights and to sign up for Flight Status Notifications.

Key Points:

• While we are experiencing improvements in several areas of the operation, we are not yet back to the level our customers deserve and expect from American. We are encouraged by the trends in several of our performance metrics, including:

• We have seen a 16 percent improvement in our DOT A+14 ratings from September through Oct. 9.
• We have reduced our cancellations by 27 percent.

• This proactive measure is a prudent step intended to give us the continued flexibility to effectively plan and route our crews and planes, providing, where we can, backup aircraft to swap out as necessary.

• We are doing a number of things to help our customers that are impacted by the schedule adjustment for the first half of November, including:

• Reaching out to customers proactively to re-accommodate them earlier, and in a more timely fashion.
• Proactively adjusting work schedules, offering overtime and additional hours in order to better accommodate the needs of our customers – both externally and internally. This includes Reservations and at our airports.

• This change to the schedule is for the first half of November, and will not affect holiday travel.