Pressure mounts on American Airlines CEO as carrier lags rivals
A snowplow is seen working as a Boeing 737 American Airlines passenger plane is parked at the gate on the tarmac of LaGuardia airport in New York on January 25, 2026.
Charly Triballeau | Afp | Getty Images
American Airlines‘s promised comeback got off to a rocky start this year.
Pilot and flight attendant unions called into question CEO Robert Isom’s leadership as the airline’s performance outpaced its rivals by a wide margin; this trend meant lower profit sharing for Americans’ more than 130,000 employees. Adding to employees’ frustration, the airline has struggled to recover from major winter storms in recent weeks, leaving crews stranded; some had no place to sleep next to the airport.
Late Friday, the pilots’ union wrote to the airline’s board of directors, requesting a meeting to discuss the airline’s financial and operational difficulties.
“Our airline is on a path of underperformance and has failed to define an identity or strategy to correct course,” the Allied Pilots Association board wrote. The union called for “leaders who are willing, equipped and competent to put the house in order.”
The American earned $111 million last year; This amount was overshadowed by the profits from the USA. Delta Airlines And United AirlinesDespite flying at similar capacity in 2025, America brought in revenues of more than $5 billion and $3.3 billion, respectively.
“I know this is insufficient profit sharing, there’s a very small profit sharing pool this year. Again, when you get to breakeven, you have that kind of profit sharing,” Isom told employees after announcing earnings results on Jan. 27, according to an event recording reviewed by CNBC. “I’m disappointed about that.”
‘2026 cannot feel different’
American is trying to catch up with its rivals with premium products that fetch higher wages; This is a bright spot in the industry. The growth in bus cabin revenue has been elusive. He also worked to reverse the damage done by American’s failed direct-to-traveller business travel strategy, whose architect American fired in May 2024.
2026 is very important for the carrier.
The Fort Worth, Texas-based airline issued an optimistic outlook for the year on Jan. 27, and Isom told the crew he was optimistic about the recovery this year. He also noted that many staff, such as flight attendants, earn more than their colleagues at United, where cabin crew and other employees are negotiating contracts.
Isom is leading what he argues is a major transformation of America. The strategy includes improving customer service, network and revenue management.
This week, he took his message to nearly 6,000 leaders at the airline’s conference at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
“As a senior leadership team, we had conversations about how we can never miss an opportunity and how we need to hold ourselves accountable,” Isom said at the event, according to a transcript seen by CNBC. “It all starts with us being at the top, but we’re all here today and it’s how you manage your teams that matters. 2026 can’t just feel different. It needs to be different.”
American issued its 2026 outlook as it juggles the aftermath of a late-January winter storm that hit much of the U.S. with snow, ice and sleet and prepares for another storm to hit its home base of Charlotte, North Carolina, as competitors dig in faster.
The financial consequences, combined with the slow recovery from the storm, have provoked outrage from both pilot and flight attendant union leaders representing nearly 40,000 crew members.
This week, two flight operations leaders from American Airlines met with the union and discussed recent issues; The union told members it would “no longer accept platitudes, empty promises and lack of decisive action from our pilots.”
Association of Professional Flight Attendants President Julie Hedrick said in a Jan. 27 statement that Isom, who becomes CEO in 2022, “missed the human factor” and that “many of us have been here too long and don’t see an ending that would put us in a better place.”
Isom acknowledged the problems American crew members faced during the storm that paralyzed much of the United States in late January, calling the weather “probably the most impactful” in his decades-long tenure at the airline.
Robert Isom, chief executive officer of American Airlines Group Inc., speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, in New York, United States.
Christian Monterrosa | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A tale of two airlines in Texas
America has had a particularly difficult year 2025. An army Black Hawk helicopter crashed into one of the carrier’s regional jets arriving at Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, killing 67 people on both flights. The airline and its competitors were also affected by the US government shutdown late last year.
“We’re off to a fast start based on the booking trends we observed in January and all-time records in the first three weeks of the year,” Isom told analysts on the Jan. 27 earnings call.
But investors also want the airline to prove its progress.
America’s stocks have been roughly flat this year. His rival is 20 miles away in Dallas, Southwest Airlinesit is also trying to reinvent itself, and its shares are up more than 30% in 2026. Shares of United and Delta are up more than 3% and more than 8%, respectively, for the year.
Predictions that Southwest could quadruple its earnings this year have sent investors into a bullish frenzy. The carrier recently rolled out its biggest transformation in nearly 55 years of flying (much to the chagrin of some passengers): last month, it introduced seat assignments for the first time, added initial baggage fees, and introduced basic economy tickets and other changes. Investor confidence pushed Southwest’s shares to a nearly four-year high last month following the release of results.
All U.S. carriers are investing heavily in higher-end travel instead of standard bus, and Southwest’s CEO is even considering opening its first airport lounge, its CEO told CNBC last year.
America is likewise upgrading its wide-body aircraft with larger, single business-class cabins, installing a three-class cabin on new Airbus narrow-body aircraft, and expanding airport lounges. The airline has also revamped its food and beverage options, including Lavazza coffee and Bollinger Champagne. For its 100th anniversary this spring, it’s also adding caviar and beef Wellington for long-haul premium cabins.
Isom said he expects half of America’s revenue to come from “premium offerings” by the end of the decade.
fight over chicago
Several planes wait in line to taxi on the runway at O’Hare International airport in Chicago, Illinois, on November 30, 2025, after a winter snowstorm impacted the area.
Jim Vondruska | Getty Images
One of the big battles for Americans is taking place at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Unified CEO Scott Kirby, whom the Americans fired in 2016, has vowed to keep his former employer at bay.
Both airlines are stepping up their schedules here next summer. Deutsche Bank estimated in a note Monday that United earned about $10 billion in revenue from O’Hare and American generated more than $5 billion.
Around the time American reported earnings, United ran a digital billboard in Chicago that read, “More on time, fewer canceled flights. Aadvantage, United,” using the same spelling as American’s AAdvantage loyalty program. Bankrupt Spirit Airlines also plans to transfer two gates at Chicago O’Hare to United for $30 million, which would give United more space at the airport.
But questions remain for Americans from Chicago to Charlotte.
“It’s unclear whether the current strategy will close the margin gap with its peers,” Melius Research airline analyst Conor Cunningham said of American. “It will take a lot of time to implement. You can’t just enable premium revenue.”
“It took Delta more than a decade to develop a world-class image,” Cunningham added, pointing to the transformation of U.S. profit leaders.
