Alison Taylor to Retire from American

American Airlines chief customer officer Alison Taylor will retire later this year, the carrier announced Friday. Taylor will remain in an advisory role through most of 2023 while her day-to-day responsibilities will transition to chief commercial officer Vasu Raja and SVP of global partnerships and international Scott Laurence.

Taylor joined American in 2016 as SVP of global sales and distribution before being named chief customer officer in 2020. In that role she oversaw sales and international commercial and operations teams as well as reservations and customer relations, according to the airline.

Laurence will oversee American’s sales and international operations teams, along with VP of global sales Thomas Rajan, VP of operations and commercial for Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific Kyle Mabry, and VP of operations and commercial for Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean José Freig, according to an internal memo Taylor sent to her team. VP Carolyne Truelove will continue to lead reservations and customer relations teams, reporting to Raja. 

Taylor will remain “closely involved this year” while maintaining industry board seats on United States Tour Operators Association, the Global Business Travel Association, GBTA’s WINiT and the Airline Passenger Experience Association on behalf of American.

“So much has changed in our world and in our industry since I joined American in 2016, but what hasn’t changed is our relentless pursuit to deliver a world-class experience for our customers,” Taylor wrote.

Prior to joining American, Taylor spent several years at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. Her last role there was SVP of global sales. In all she spent more than 30 years in the travel industry, according to American.

While at the carrier, Taylor was named to BTN’s 25 Most Influential list in 2017 for her work in expanding the corporate sales team and implementing an “industry-first strategy” to use incentives rather than fees to promote adoption of the New Distribution Capability. More recently, American announced the need for travel management companies to be NDC-ready by April 1 or lose up to 40 percent of American’s content.

Taylor plans to return to Australia with her husband to be closer to their family, according to the carrier.