Texas’s Fort Worth (AP) Over the coming weeks, David Seymour’s task will be to ensure that American Airlines planes depart on schedule and fly safely during one of the busiest travel times of the year.
Being the chief operating officer for American Airlines, Seymour is in charge of flight and airport operations for a carrier that is expected to operate over 6,500 flights daily between now and New Year’s Day.
Seymour joined America West Airlines in 1999 after serving as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army and graduating from West Point. In 2013, America West changed its name to US Airways and later merged with American. Seymour was promoted to his current position in 2020 after holding a number of operations-related positions.
Seymour recently discussed controlling high passenger volumes during the holidays and stopping passengers from boarding a plane before their boarding group is called in an interview with The Associated Press. For clarity and length, the responses have been revised.
How would you ensure that American airlines operate on schedule over the holidays?
A: Thousands of workers manage the airline on a daily basis. To be honest, my job during this time is more about handling all of the difficulties—or, we’ll call them headwinds—than it is about controlling the pandemonium. And the great majority of those, in my opinion, are the uncontrollable.
Q. For example?
A: What is happening with the air-traffic control system in our immediate vicinity? Operating an airline would be very simple if we didn’t have to deal with weather and other issues that occasionally come up.
How are you going to bounce back from setbacks?
A: Prior to the pandemic, there would be significant storms in the Charlotte, North Carolina, or Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, areas, and it would take a few days for us to recover. We decided that we would recover more quickly than any other carrier after the outbreak.
Q. How are you going to accomplish that?
A: By predicting the climate. In order to comprehend what is coming, what it might do, and how we are prepared for it, my staff continuously monitors the weather by examining several weather forecasts.
How much do significant cancellation occurrences teach you? How much do you learn from other airlines’ meltdowns?
A: This group does an after-action review. After examining it, we will ask ourselves, “What could we have done better?” We also store that data. Let’s get to your second query regarding rivals. I’m not in the operations centers of the other competitors to observe how they accomplish that. Our networks are not configured the same way as theirs. We do ask ourselves, “Well, what would we do if something similar happened to me?”
Q. What are the main things you’re searching for when traveling for Christmas? Is it the weather? Issues with air traffic control?
A: Predicting the weather is never easy. Given its potential for the greatest influence, that will undoubtedly rank among the biggest things. We maintain communication with (the Federal Aviation Administration) at the controller level. We’ve got a crew out here that keeps in close contact with the FAA, monitoring systemic developments and developing backup plans in case they anticipate any problems.
Q. Planes must be deiced.
A: The only thing that has changed since summer is that we now have to deal with winter weather in some places. Deicing, then. However, we’re prepared for that. With the use of the deicing vehicles and current technology, we have been able to cut our throughput time on deicing in half while still satisfying all the requirements for properly deicing the aircraft, all while having one person complete the task.
Q. Are your plans for the holiday season being impacted by Boeing’s new aircraft delivery delays?
A: Not at all. Boeing must succeed and be able to produce high-quality airplanes, but we haven’t planned our Christmas schedule to rely on any deliveries. We’ve included a sufficient buffer.
Q. In order to catch those who attempt to board the aircraft before their boarding group is called, American recently extended the rollout of technology. How did that choice get made?
A: The ability to catch line-jumpers is viewed by our frequent and premium passengers as a perk of flying with American Airlines. Our gate agents enjoy order, so it’s a big bonus for them.
Q. Was the boarding process slowed down by people boarding out of order?
A: Not at all. All we want is a constant flow of people entering. With the addition of larger overhead bins to the great majority of our aircraft, the ability to obtain overhead bin space has significantly improved. In the upcoming years, we will complete the remaining fleet with the big overhead bins. That used to be a bit of that driver there, but it won’t be the problem now.
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