Go JetBlue !

Content management with templates opened up a lot of possibilities, but (at least for now) have really destroyed the beauty that comes with exploring typographic layout.

Now, back to American Airlines - I totally agree that American Airlines should be ashamed with their website, and... they probably are.

I worked in the web team at Air New Zealand so I've got some insight to the complexities in the Airline world. Many airlines are held in a sort of ransom by global distribution systems (which are the ticketing and fare databases that allow travel agents to reserve tickets globally etc) which determine in many ways the booking experience. Smaller airlines have the luxury of having different sales channels, sometimes avoiding GDS by selling direct and have have a much better customer experience.

For your suggestions:
1. Yes - AA.com should be treating this as a serious problem. If they are not, then something is wrong.

2. No way! They might need some help, and some new blood, but bringing in an outside design firm with no airline knowledge would be suicide. There is just too much to learn here - they need a partnership, not a coup.

3. Yes - The old players really need to learn from the young airlines - but as I hinted above, there are a lot of historical and legacy reasons that mean this isn't going to happen overnight, it needs to be a planned and strategic transition.

Having said that however, no excuse for the current AA.com homepage, it truly is disgusting!

The problem is not with the designer. It is with the corporate culture at American.

What would his solution be?