While Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) isn’t as important of a market for American as it was a few years back, the airline still has some positive passenger experience news for the airport…
American opening a new Admirals Club in Austin
American has announced that it plans to open a new Admirals Club in Austin. The new Admirals Club will be 12,000 square feet and will be located on the west side of the terminal, nearly doubling the carrier’s current lounge footprint.
Construction on the new lounge will begin this year, and the current lounge will remain open until the new lounge opens. While no opening date has been announced, I think it’ll realistically be late 2027 or 2028 before this new lounge opens, just based on how long these projects usually take.
The lounge will of course boast American’s new-style lounge design, which is currently only available at a limited number of airports. The lounge will boast views of downtown Austin and the airport, plus distinct zones for relaxing, dining, working, and recharging.
On top of that, the lounge will feature another cool amenity — it’ll have the first outdoor terrace space in the entire Admirals Club network. American describes this as a broader effort to reimagine the Admirals Club experience.
It’s great to see American investing in a new lounge in Austin. However, keep in mind that the airline isn’t nearly as ambitious at the airport as it was a few years ago. Coming out of the pandemic, American tried to turn Austin into more of a focus city, but ultimately the airline lost a lot of money on that growth, and decided to pull back. Now the airline once again primarily just serves hubs and focus cities from Austin.
In the meantime, Delta has continued expanding out of Austin, seemingly taking American’s place. While I’m not sure the growth is proving that profitable for Delta, ultimately the airline is more in need of a Texas focus city than American and United, which have among their biggest hubs in Dallas (DFW) and Houston (IAH), respectively.
Here’s how American Chief Customer Officer Heather Garboden describes this:
“As we elevate our presence in Austin, we’re excited to bring a new level of comfort and hospitality to our customers. This new Admirals Club lounge will reflect the vibrant spirit of Austin while offering the thoughtful design and premium amenities our customers expect.”
I’m happy American is investing in its lounge network
It’s good to see American investing in its network of airport lounges, as we’ve seen lots of positive announcements lately. The catch is that so much of this work is only starting now, and therefore we’re going to have to be patient for another year or two (or maybe even three) before many of these changes come to life.
For example, there’s a brand new Flagship Lounge coming to Miami (MIA), plus a first-ever Flagship Lounge coming to Charlotte (CLT). No timeline has been provided for either lounge opening, though, so it’s anyone’s guess when either of those become a reality. For that matter, despite the fact that the Miami lounge has been announced, I haven’t actually found any airport filings suggesting that a new lounge has been finalized.
Anyway, it’s all good stuff, I’m just impatient. 😉
Bottom line
American has announced plans to open a new Admirals Club in Austin. The lounge will be roughly 12,000 square feet, with the first outdoor terrace in the network. This is obviously good news for Austin Airport as such, but beyond that, it’s great to see American trying new things with its lounge network, like outdoor terraces.
What do you make of American’s Admirals Club Austin plans?
