A snow removal machine operates while an American Airlines Boeing 737 passenger plane is parked at the gate on the tarmac at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on January 25, 2026.
Charly Triballeau | Afp | Getty Images
American airlines” promised turn around is off to a rough start this year.
Pilot and flight attendant unions have questioned CEO Robert Isom’s leadership as the airline’s performance has largely lagged behind its rivals, a trend that has translated into lower profit sharing for American’s more than 130,000 employees. Adding to employee frustration, the airline has struggled to recover from major winter storms in recent weeks, crews have found themselves stranded – some without a place to sleep near the airport.
The pilots’ union wrote to the airline’s board of directors on Friday evening, requesting a meeting to discuss the carrier’s financial and operational challenges.
“Our airline is on an underperforming path and has failed to define an identity or strategy to correct course,” the Allied Pilots Association board wrote. The union called for “leaders willing, equipped and empowered to put the house in order.”
Isom responded Saturday that as a board member and CEO, it was “more appropriate” to meet as soon as possible.
“The Board and I agree with you in the desire to make American the strongest airline possible in every respect,” he wrote.
The American earned $111 million last year, an amount dwarfed by the profits of Delta Airlines And United Airlineswhich grossed $5 billion and more than $3.3 billion, respectively, even though American carried a similar capacity in 2025.
“I know it’s a meager profit sharing, a very small profit sharing pool this year. Again, when you break even, that’s the kind of profit sharing you have,” Isom told employees after publication of results on Jan. 27, according to a recording of the event that was reviewed by CNBC. “I’m disappointed in that.”
“2026 cannot be different”American is trying to catch up with its competitors with premium products that command higher prices, a positive in the industry because growth in coach cabin revenue has been elusive. It also helped repair the damage caused by a failed direct-to-travel business travel strategy, from which the American architect was ousted in May 2024.
2026 is crucial for the carrier.
The Fort Worth, Texas-based airline issued a optimistic outlook for the year on Jan. 27, and Isom told crews he was optimistic about improvement this year. He also noted that many staff members, like flight attendants, earn more than their counterparts at United, where cabin crew and other employees are in contract negotiations.
Isom is leading what he bills as a major transformation of America. The strategy includes improving customer service, network and revenue management.
This week, he delivered his message to about 6,000 executives at a conference hosted by the airline at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
“We’ve had conversations as a senior leadership team about how we can’t pass up any opportunity… how we have to hold ourselves accountable,” Isom said at the event, according to a transcript viewed by CNBC. “It starts with us at the top, but it’s all of us here today and how you lead your teams. 2026 can’t just be different. It has to be different.”
American released its 2026 outlook as it juggled the aftermath of a late January winter storm that pummeled much of the U.S. with snow, ice and sleet and prepared for another storm that ended up hitting its main hub of Charlotte, North Carolina, while its competitors dug in faster.
The financial results, coupled with the slow recovery after the stormangered union leaders of pilots and flight attendants, who together represent about 40,000 crew members.
This week, two American Airlines flight operations executives met with the union to discuss recent problems, and the union told its members: “Our pilots will no longer accept platitudes, empty words and a lack of decisive action.”
Association of Professional Flight Attendants President Julie Hedrick said Jan. 27 that Isom, who became CEO in 2022″the human factor is missing” and that “many of us have been here for a very long time and we don’t see an end that would put us in a better place.”
Isom acknowledged the problems American crew members faced during the late January storm that paralyzed much of the United States and called the weather “probably the most impactful” in his decades-long tenure at the airline.
Robert Isom, CEO of American Airlines Group Inc., speaks during an interview with Bloomberg Television in New York, U.S., Wednesday, December 10, 2025.
Christian Monterrosa | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A Tale of Two Texas AirlinesAmerica had a particularly difficult year in 2025, which began with collision of an Army Black Hawk helicopter in one of the carrier regional jets who arrived at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., killing the 67 people on both flights. The airline and its competitors have also been hit by the United States. government shutdown at the end of last year.
“We got off to a fast start based on the booking trends we saw in January, all-time highs for the first three weeks of the year,” Isom told analysts on the Jan. 27 earnings conference call.
But investors also want the airline to demonstrate its progress.
US stocks are roughly flat this year. Its competitor, 20 miles away, in Dallas, Southwest Airlinesis also trying to remake itself, and its stock is up more than 30% in 2026. Shares of United and Delta are up more than 3% and more than 8%, respectively, for the year.
Southwest predicts that this could quadruple winnings This year, investors have gone into a bullish frenzy. This carrier recently sealed the biggest transformation during his nearly 55 years of flight (for some the sorrow of travelers): assign seats for the first time, add first-ever baggage fees, and roll out basic economy tickets and other changes. Investor confidence propelled Southwest’s stock to a near four-year high last month following its earnings release.
Learn more about American Airlines’ recovery plansAll U.S. carriers are investing heavily in premium travel over standard coach, and even Southwest is considering opening its first airport lounge, its CEO told CNBC last year.
American is also revamping its wide-body jets with larger single business class cabins, installing a three-class cabin on new Airbus narrowbodies and expanding its airport lounges. The airline also refreshed 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 American’s revenue to come from “premium offerings” toward the end of the decade.
Fight for ChicagoSeveral planes line up to taxi on a runway after a winter snowstorm hit the O’Hare International Airport area November 30, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois.
Jim Vondruska | Getty Images
One of the major battles for the Americans took place at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, where United CEO Scott Kirbywhom American fired in 2016, vowed to keep his former employer at arm’s length.
Both carriers will increase their schedules there next summer. Deutsche Bank estimated in a note Monday that United generates about $10 billion in revenue at O’Hare and American generates more than $5 billion.
As American reported earnings, United posted 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 is also seeking to transfer two departure gates at Chicago O’Hare to United for $30 million, which would give United more land at the airport.
But from Chicago to Charlotte, questions remain for Americans.
“It is unclear whether the current strategy will narrow the margin gap versus peers,” Conor Cunningham, an airline industry analyst at Melius Research, said of American. “This will take a long time to implement. You can’t just generate premium revenue.”
Cunningham added, “It took Delta more than a decade to cultivate a premium image,” pointing to U.S. executives in the profit sector. transformation.
Read more airline news CNBC
