American Airlines is pushing to increase and retain business travelers by adding incentives both before and during their flight.

Dallas based American Airlines has always been a leader when it comes to knowing what their lucrative business travelers want. Proof of this can be seen in their recently opened Flagship Lounge in Terminal D at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW).

Opened in May of this year, the luxury-on-the-ground-experience is accompanied by the airline's award-winning Flagship First Dining experience.

Dallas Fort Worth is American Airlines biggest hub

When speaking about the new lounge in an American Airlines press release Kurt Stache, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Loyalty, and Sales for American said,

“It made sense for us to go all-in on the Flagship experience at our largest hub.” “More of American’s premium customers fly through DFW than anywhere else, and we think they’ll agree the Flagship experience is unlike any other.”

American Airlines' business and first-class passengers now have the perfect environment to rest, unwind or catch up on work before boarding their flight. The new lounge is all part of a $200 million investment aimed at American Airlines premier customers and their loyalty to the world’s biggest airline.

American Airlines has recently opened other Flagship Lounges in Miami International Airport (MIA), Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).

Business passengers will be prioritized during delays and cancellations

Now with the new lounges open, American has turned their attention to some of the little things that go a long way in keeping a customer’s loyalty.

These perks for American Airlines’ frequent business flyers include:

• Free access the preferred seats at the front of the cabin that generally come with a fee attached to them.
• Priority access at ticket counters.
• Priority access to TSA screening lines.
• Priority boarding for passengers who booked their ticket with American Airlines partners, British Airways, Iberia and Finnair.

These select passengers will also be prioritized when it comes to delays due to weather or operational problems.

Recently American Airlines has had to grapple with a spate of canceled flights due to storms and what the airline is calling an “illegal work slowdown” by the unions that represent its mechanics.

American Airlines has had to cancel flights due to the 737 MAX grounding

The grounding of American Airlines' 24 737 MAX aircraft in March has also been a factor, not only in flight cancellations, but also in American Airlines' ability to retain its corporate customers.

Speaking about the situation during an earnings call carried by CNBC last month, American Airlines head of revenue management, Don Casey, said,

“On a year-over-year basis, there hasn’t been a very material change in the completion factor for corporate customers, so we’ve done a good job of figuring out ... what to cancel.”

For the best part, American Airlines has been able to protect their high-paying customers by consolidating flights on important business routes. In general, business passengers tend to book their travel at the last minute, making them very lucrative to airlines, as last-minute tickets always come with a premium price.