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American Airlines<\/a> is sorry, okay? After instituting a booking policy that rubbed many passengers the wrong way, the carrier has seen a dive in profits\u2014and is now walking back the controversial strategy for fear of further hemorrhaging dollars.<\/p>\n The world\u2019s second-largest airline<\/a> is basically standing outside annoyed travel agents\u2019 windows with a boombox<\/a> asking for another chance after bungling it up. It can\u2019t afford not to, as its net income in the just-ended second quarter has slipped by 46%<\/a> to $717 million from a year ago. While the airline has record revenue this past quarter, the CEO acknowledges that they\u2019re off target for a couple reasons.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to first acknowledge that our current revenue performance is not where we want it to be,\u201d Robert D. Isom, American Airlines CEO, president, and director, said on a less-than-cheery earnings call on Thursday. Attributing some of its issues to an industry-wide \u201cimbalance in domestic supply and demand\u201d and American\u2019s former sales strategy, the CEO said, \u201cwe know we can do better, and we will rise to meet this challenge.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n American Airlines did not immediately respond to Fortune<\/em>\u2019s request for further comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n The strategy Isom referred\u00a0to is one where the airline made customers buy tickets directly, as opposed to from having the freedom to also book from other agencies. The choice alienated corporate customers and led to the ousting of Vasu Raja, who formerly served as American\u2019s chief commercial officer, this past spring<\/a>. Stopping customers from using booking agencies in favor of American\u2019s own website proved to be too hasty, as Bloomberg noted complaints that the internal technology wasn\u2019t developed enough to handle this new policy.<\/p>\n Naturally, travel agents were incensed by the former rule. \u201cTo assume that all customers prefer to buy direct through AA.com is arrogant at best,\u201d wrote<\/a> the American Society of Travel Advisors in a fiery statement. \u201cAnd claiming that consumers asked for NDC is like Apple<\/a> claiming consumers asked that no wall charger be included with new iPhones. We may have to live with it, but we certainly didn\u2019t ask for it,\u201d they said referencing the new policy known as New Distrubion Capability bookings.\u00a0<\/p>\n Isom soon acknowledged that the plan had backfired. \u201cWe know we dug ourselves a hole in the second quarter,\u201d he said<\/a> in late May at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference. Indicating his change of course, the CEO called for a \u201creset,\u201d adding that American \u201cmoved faster than we should have and we didn\u2019t execute well.\u201d<\/p>\n But such choices end up leaving long-lasting dents in relationships. \u201cThey\u2019re not going to be able to turn it around in three months \u2014 that\u2019s for sure,\u201d Helane Becker, a TD Cowen<\/a> analyst, told Bloomberg Television this past spring. \u201cIt will take at least 18 months to two years to turn things around, and even then it might take longer.\u201d<\/p>\n And now American is seeing the fruits of said misstep. In the latest earnings report Isom says a \u201creset will take some time,\u201d likely impacting earnings throughout the rest of the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n There\u2019s some mending of bridges to be done, too: Isom said he\u2019s so far spoken\u00a0 speak to more than 30 of his counterparts at corporate customers, he said. \u201cWe recognize we have a lot of relationships to repair.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n