American Airlines Rolls Out New Safety Video

The new safety video for American Airlines is three years late.

American Airlines’ new safety video

The launch of new employee uniforms was supposed to coincide with the introduction of a new safety video. The new safety video was delayed due to the swine flu. I don't understand why it was delayed, but that's where we're at.

That is going to change soon. The new year will see the screening of American's new safety video on flights. You may still see the old safety video on some flights for a few more months, even though this should start happening in the coming days.

A lot of American's narrow body aircraft don't have TVs and therefore have a manual safety demonstration. The video will mostly be seen by passengers on wide body jets.

You can see the leaked American Airlines safety video from View from the Wing below. You can expect to see onboard flights soon.

The last safety video is being screened through the end of the year.

My thoughts on the new safety video

Many airlines put a lot of effort into making safety videos funny or attention grabbing. That is not what American is doing, as the airline takes a more traditional approach to its safety videos.

What do you think about American's new video?

• I like that the video is visually interesting to watch and that it’s not annoying, in the sense that frequent flyers shouldn’t be bothered by it; the music is calming and upbeat as well, which contributes to that
• I can’t help but notice the extent to which employees are smiling in an over-the-top way; the smiles are just so big that it reeks of insincerity, in my opinion
• The video contains American’s new(ish) slogan, “We Fly So You Can Soar,” as we haven’t otherwise seen this used all that much
• Since this video was filmed around three years ago (and labor in the industry changed so much during the pandemic), I can’t help but wonder what percent of employees featured in the video are still at the airline
• In a twisted way, I’m kind of going to miss the “first things first, let’s buckle those belts” video, as I think I’ve memorized every word at this point

A new safety video is in the works. Even though it was filmed three years ago, the video will be aired soon. Half a dozen new safety videos would most likely be introduced by Air New Zealand.

American's new safety video is fine. It isn't offensive and shouldn't become too tiring to frequent flyers. It isn't likely to win any awards or be memorable.

American safety videos are not as important to frequent flyers as they used to be due to the fact that few American planes have TVs.

Do you like American's new safety video?