Bridget Blaise-Shamai, MBA’92, vice president of customer loyalty and insight at American Airlines, flew through campus on October 9 to share her expertise with students.

Bridget Blaise-Shamai

She spoke in two sessions of MKT 576A – Consumer Behavior, detailing how there is an emotional spectrum in customer loyalty, along with a competitive fare market. Utilizing the data she receives to make better choices for customers is a large portion of her job.

Loyalty means increased profits. And loyal customers are more forgiving, which is quite valuable in the airline industry, where customers will experience dissatisfaction due to external forces like weather or equipment malfunction.

The Freshman Women’s Dean Scholars invited Blaise-Shamai for a short afternoon gathering where she was able to share about her industry and speak candidly with the freshmen.

Blaise-Shamai was also able to visit with Dean Mahendra Gupta, a throwback Thursday for sure, as she sat in his first class when he started as a professor at Olin.