American Airlines automated rebooking tool has left some frequent fliers scratching their heads.
That’s because the digital feature, which is meant to accommodate passengers with missed connections on the next available flight, has been rebooking customers without their knowledge or approval.
Anecdotal evidence shows that the issue appears to be occurring in a small number of tight connections where passengers feel they could have caught their plane—only to be automatically rebooked on the next flight.
It happened to Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen, according to View from the Wing, which first reported the phenomenon.
“My flight to Chicago was delayed and without asking you rebooked me on another connecting flight,” Thiessen said on X. “But I’m landing and my connecting flight is still in Chicago with an hour to spare and now I’m not on it! Since when do you change my itinerary without asking?”
“They did this to me yesterday...frustrating,” replied media consultant Beverly Hallberg.
Some experts are attributing the issue to AI run amok, but American says that its “rebooking tool is automated, not artificial intelligence, with clearly defined guardrails that quickly process and optimize a number of data elements related to a customer's itinerary.”
The airline says it launched the automatic rebooking technology in 2023.
Since then, “we've reduced customers' average delay length to final destination by 25%, and we continue to improve on the technology to ensure our customers' journeys are as smooth as possible,” American’s statement said.
Earlier this year, American announced it was expanding an AI service called Connect Assist, which uses an algorithm to assess whether flight crew can hold a plane for a passenger with a tight connection.
The airline first debuted Connect Assist in May 2025 at its two largest hubs at Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and Charlotte (CLT).
Now the tech is operating at four additional airports: Chicago (ORD), Miami (MIA), Philadelphia (PHL) and Phoenix (PHX).
"When disruptions, including weather, occur, we do everything possible to get our customers' travel plans back on track - including providing opportunities for customers to make rebooking decisions that work best for them, proactively identifying likely misconnections and securing alternative travel options,” American said.
Still, fliers might want to watch their American Airlines reservations closely if they’re facing a short connection or the first leg of their journey is delayed.
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