Heather Garboden, American Airlines chief customer officer, speaks to Chicago employees iin February.

Norvell's Photography

Maybe the best thing that can happen to an airline’s recently installed chief customer officer is to make major changes at the airline and then to see them validated in an independent customer satisfaction survey.

“I was thrilled and excited” to see results of the 2026 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), released last week, said Heather Garboden, who took over as American Airlines senior vice president/chief customer officer in February 2025. The ACSIACSI report showed that roughly since then, American has made a surprising and substantial gain, despite often being derided for trailing competitors in customer and premium offerings.

“I think a year ago, we stepped back and saw we had a lot of opportunity and we needed to renew our focus on the customer experience,” Garboden said in an interview on Thursday. “Across the board we are off to a very good start.” As for the customer satisfaction survey, “I was looking at my email and it came across,” she said. “I felt like it represented all of the customer enhancements we’ve been delivering over the last 12 to 14 months.

“We’ve delivered more customer enhancements over the past year than in the prior six or seven years before that,” she said. “My expectation is that we will continue to push for that.”

Among the biggest improvements, Garboden said, was a partnership with AT&T announced in April 2025. The companies agreed to provide free, high-speed inflight Wi-Fi for American Advantage members starting in January 2026. “That was not in the works before I got there,” she acknowledged.

Now, American has free Wi-Fi on 1,400 mainline and regional aircraft. “We have free Wi-Fi on more aircraft than any other airline, and we delivered it faster,” she said.

The ACSI survey said the ongoing expansion of the availability of inflight internet access was a factor in increasing airline customer satisfaction across the industry.

Garboden said American is now focused on digital enhancements including its redesigned mobile app and its increased ability to flag and explain delays to customers. Of course, all three major airlines say the same thing. Asked what is unique to American, Garboden cited an AI tool on the app: it provides answers to questions such as “Name a warm place I can fly to for 40,000 Advantage miles.” Garboden said young people might well ask such a question.

“Across the board, we’ve spent the last year looking at what the biggest pain points are four our customers, and we have methodically started to address them,” she said. The biggest was inadequate Wi-Fi, and now it’s irregular operations. “We’re super focused on updating the app to be more transparent” regarding delays. Easier rebooking is one area for improvement.

Asked whether American will add seatback screens, which Delta and United both have, she said, “Stay tuned.” Asked whether American will offer the opportunity to convert three economy seats into a lie-flat bed on longhaul international flights, as United has announced, she said, “We have no plans right now.”

During Garboden’s 14 months in her role, American has also rolled out better coffee and better champagne, more airport clubs and lounges, and improved bedding on premium seating to London. The changes are in keeping with industry trends, but American was once perceived to be behind others. Now, that perception may be diminishing.

In the customer satisfaction survey, overall airline industry customer satisfaction overall gained 3% from 2025 to 2026 and American led with a 7% gain. The survey has been conducted since 1994 by ACSI, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based provider of customer analytics products that was founded at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. The ongoing expansion of the availability of inflight internet access, led by Delta, was a factor in increasing airline customer satisfaction. Delta remains the highest rated airline in the survey.

Forrest Morgeson, associate professor of marketing at Michigan State University and director of research emeritus at the ACSI, said American’s seven point represented “a very large improvement. We rarely see improvements that large.” At the same time, he noted that American dropped eight points the previous year. That was due to changes in the loyalty program in 2024, reflected in the 2025 survey.

“When you see a big drop like that, it generally portends bad things for a company,” Morgeson said on Thursday. “But in this case, they rebounded just as quickly, so it was a bit surprising. Often, when you have changes, customers just see the changes, and there’s apprehension. But then people came to see the advantages.” The program, he said, “is something they have come to like.” American’s performance in the survey, he said, was “a V shaped phenomenon.” People hate change, but like improvements once they become familiar.

For the survey, ACSI interviewed 14, 910 people who flew during the 12 months ending March 31, 2026. The people were located by companies that identify and assemble internet panels.

Garboden, who grew up in suburban Portland, Ore., went to America West Airlines in Phoenix after graduating from Villanova. She began in revenue management in 2003. “Coming out of school I wanted an analytical role, something numbers based,” she said. She subsequently worked in various roles, trying to learn everything she could about how an airline runs. “I started in commercial, then spent big chunk in finance. A few years ago, I moved into biz leading regional and cargo to get some operational experience, and then a customer role a little over a year,” she said.

It's not as if other airlines are any more capable of providing enhanced Wi-Fi or seatback screens or improved food or comfortable bedding or good frequent flyer benefits than American is. If customers continue to test happy, it provides a boost not only for the carrier, but also for the person who presided over much of the implementation, which makes Garboden a person to watch in the airline industry.