American Airlines Changes Boarding Process
American Airlines has announced minor changes to its boarding process, which will go into effect next month.
Starting May 1, American will be updating boarding groups and adding an additional five minutes of boarding time. The new boarding process lets First and Business class passengers preboard alongside ConciergeKey and families with children ages 2 and under.
The changes are aimed at speeding up the boarding process. They come on the heels of a recently launched boarding technology which helps agents make sure everyone boards when they are supposed to. If a customer boards before their assigned group is called, the new software will not accept the boarding pass and instead makes an audible sound to alert the gate agent and customer that their group has not yet been called.
American Airlines Boarding Process
| Preboard | ConciergeKey® First/Business Families with children ages 2 and under |
| Group 1 | AAdvantage Executive Platinum® Active duty U.S. military with military I.D. |
| Group 2 | AAdvantage Platinum Pro® oneworld® Emerald℠ |
| Group 3 | AAdvantage Platinum® oneworld® Sapphire℠ |
| Group 4 | AAdvantage Gold® oneworld® Ruby℠ AirPass℠ Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive cardmembers |
| Group 5 | Main Cabin Extra (excluding Basic Economy) AAdvantage® members who earn 15,000 Loyalty Points Eligible AAdvantage® credit cardmembers |
| Group 6 | AAdvantage® members |
| Group 7-8 | Main Cabin |
| Group 9 | Basic Economy |
