Company Story

Preparing American Airlines’ Political Engagement and Grassroots Advocacy Programs for Take Off!

In 2000, American Airlines was soaring—having just capped off seven of its most profitable years ever. But everything changed in 2001.

The company entered a fraught “merger” with TWA, the economy slipped into recession, and terrorists used two of its planes to attack the United States. Over the next 12 years, Washington, D.C.—as much as, if not more than, Wall Street—would determine whether the airline survived.

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A Mission Critical Issue

Campaign finance, lobbying, and ethics reforms were reshaping the landscape of corporate government relations, shifting influence from direct lobbying toward political action committees (PACs) and grassroots advocacy. Just when American Airlines needed Washington most, its “Set It and Forget It” PAC lost over 100 participants and 30% of its receipts overnight. The company lacked meaningful infrastructure to support employee advocacy and was sending its lobbyists to Capitol Hill without even the most basic facts about American’s footprint in a Member of Congress’s state or district.

How Kevin Helped

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  • How many employees worked for American? How many executives, managers, pilots, flight attendants, airport agents, ground handlers, mechanics? What did American pay in salaries, taxes, and vendor contracts? Which airports did it serve, and to how many destinations? Where were its maintenance facilities? Who represented its employees in Congress? How did they vote? What were their positions? Kevin located the sources of this and much more raw data.

  • Each data source was useful on its own. But when combined, analyzed over time, and acted upon, the data became transformative. Kevin consolidated these disparate sources, established requirements for anonymization and encryption, and scheduled automated transfers into a fully integrated, end-to-end PAC and advocacy platform.

  • With a robust data hub tied to a dynamic public affairs platform, Kevin moved American’s PAC enrollment and grassroots advocacy programs online—making them more accessible, personalized, and actionable.

The Ultimate Outcome

American Airlines could now tailor its PAC experience to individual members and eligible managers; engage and mobilize employee advocates on key issues; and build a stronger narrative on Capitol Hill by equipping its government affairs team with member-specific data on the airline’s impact in each state and district.

Ultimately, the PAC not only recovered its initial losses—it doubled its historical highs. Tens of thousands of employees took action on issues affecting the company and made their voices heard. American Airlines also gained new political allies in districts where its presence had previously been unknown or underrepresented.