NY Times Blasts AA’s Website For Women

I recently posted on American Airlines attempt to attract more female business travelers with their new website, www.aa.com/women. Apparently, they botched a few things. The New York Times recently blasted the website with quotes from high-powered female executives calling the site “stereotyped and occasional downright insulting content.”

It seems some of the advice the site offered was about 60 years out of date. For example, “Always bring a little black dress to wear with these heels,” which many high-powered business women did not feel belonged in the ‘Tips From Our Road Warriors’ section.

AA.com/women also offered advice on social networking, which was ironically blasted on the top flying social networking site for women, Flyertalk.com, whose users called the site a “condescending marketing ploy.” The lavender-coloring of the site was also viewed as old-school sexism.

However, even with all this bad press, American Airlines may not have dropped the ball on this one. They are paying attention to what’s being said about them, and have already changed the color of their site and some of the content. Additionally, some of their ideas, such as lie-flat seats and privacy screens, have been very well received.