How American Airlines builds best-in-class employee comms

The airline sends more than 20 targeted newsletters across its workforce

American Airlines has over 100,000 employees who value staying in the loop and receiving information that helps them deliver operational excellence. Most team members aren't tethered to a computer or regularly checking email as they are always on the go.

The communications team wanted to evolve their newsletter process, deliver an enjoyable reader experience, streamline processes by leveraging collaboration tools, and dive deeper into reader behavior with additional analytics. The approach had to be: 

• Collaborative + efficient: Communications team members are focused on staying ahead. They wanted a cutting-edge solution to optimize their process, surpassing the limitations of traditional Outlook and email coding. They knew a single platform where all stakeholders could write, format, review, revise, approve, and send each edition would keep their communications industry-leading. 
• Effective + impactful: With team members constantly on the go in airports and airplanes, the goal was to capture team members' attention quickly through snackable content and intelligent design principles. Having a collaborative platform with centralized assets enabled the team to focus on delivering impactful narratives promptly. 

American Airlines partnered with Axios HQ to centralize the planning, writing, sending, and tracking for more than 20 internal email communications, like their: 

• Daily newsletter to all team members
• Weekly update to all leaders
• Updates to various workgroups across the airline

And it's going really well. The team can quickly help other communicators across the enterprise develop and deliver more targeted information to team members in specific roles and locations. Real-time analytics and feedback allow for experimentation with different tactics to increase engagement.

"Keeping team members well informed contributes to the success of the company. When team members understand our focus, we can drive American forward and create value for all stakeholders," says Liz Mach, manager of Editorial Strategy for American. 

💭 Liz Mach, Manager, Editorial Communications: 

• “The airline industry moves fast and is always evolving. We need modern platforms that grow with our team members and help us meet them where they are. Axios HQ gives newsletters a streamlined look similar to the content team members consume in their personal lives."
• “The biggest thing for us is gaining additional insight into reader behavior. When we know what resonates with them, it helps inform our content strategy. It ensures we position our messages for success."

How it works: Subject matter experts collaborate in Axios HQ to draft, edit, approve, and send updates — consolidating updates from calls, spreadsheets, Teams, documents, emails, and more. "Collaboration has always been part of what makes our team so successful. Axios HQ takes collaboration to the next level, empowering our stakeholders to move more quickly and streamline the process," Liz adds. 

🧠  Liz’s words of encouragement:

• "Smart Brevity enables focus. Focusing on the core message and reducing message length demonstrates to our team members that we understand the nature of their roles. Smart Brevity recommendations help readers easily read and retain the important information we share." 

American Airlines earned Axios HQ's 2024 Best-in-Class award for Employee Communications Team of the Year. See our other award winners:

• 2024 Best-in-Class Change Communications
• 2024 Best-in-Class Community Engagement
• 2024 Best-in-Class All-Staff