• by Karl Greenberg , April 10, 2007

American Airlines is hoping to mine incremental market share and revenue by attracting more female travelers to the airline. The company is the first to launch an online marketing channel for women.

The program, at www.aa.com/women, aims to appeal to the 48% of American passengers--or 50 million travelers per year--who are of that gender. In addition to marketing to women, the effort is also intended for market research, as the site includes an interactive community for women around travel issues and surveys.

The company estimates that if it is able to raise the number of women traveling on the airline by 2%, it would gain an additional $94 million in revenue.

The new Web site will include safety and security information; how to save time and money while traveling; traveling with friends, family or partners; and stories and advice from other female travelers.

American hired Nora Linville to be the first airline industry marketer focused on women customers. Linville, American's director of women's sales and marketing, says the company created a travel advisory panel of expert women travelers, including former female employees, women business owners, and women who regularly travel for business and pleasure.

"We recognized the growing economic power of the women's market, which is now $6.1 trillion, and the additional consumer spending power of women," says Linville, who was hired to the new position a year ago. "Initially, in my role, we spent a lot of time doing research on the market, and it became clear that we needed a platform to launch initiatives, promotions, and to a place where we could create dialogue with female consumers--a place where they would have an opportunity to share insights, and suggestions with us and fellow travelers."

She says the airline will market the program with promotions involving complementary brands. "We believe the content and marketing will evolve based on dialogue we have with customers," she says.

The first cross-promoter is Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, an AAdvantage Travel Awards program participant. The hotel has a 20% discount and special spa offers for women through 2007, on reservations made through AA.com/women. The hotel has its own program, "Women on their Way," which is an effort to appeal to and solicit comments from female customers.

Linville says American, which yesterday e-mailed 1.4 million AAdvantage-member female customers about the program, will also develop word-of-mouth and grassroots campaigns to promote it. She says the airline is also partnering with many prominent women's organizations.

"We see this is as an opportunity. As the women's market changes, we are positioning ourselves for the future."