Yesterday, American Airlines announced its 2025 financial results. The airline reported a profit of $111 million, down 87% compared to the year prior. Employees were informed that their profit sharing for the year would be equal to 0.3% of their wages. As you’d expect, this left just about everyone disappointed — American is just becoming more and more of a distant third to Delta and United.
Employees aren’t too pleased about this financial performance, with one union calling on the resignation of CEO Robert Isom. Admittedly that’s nothing new, though I’d argue it rings true now more than ever before.
In this post:
American flight attendant union furious over performance
The Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), which represents American’s 25,000+ flight attendants, has published a scathing letter, directed at American’s management. Honestly, it’s absolutely brutal (yet accurate), and I feel like it’s worth sharing in its entirety, so here it is:
Today, American Airlines released its fourth quarter and full-year 2025 earnings—and once again, the results disappointed employees, investors and Wall Street. While we are pleased American achieved a small profit, our airline continues to lag its competitors by a significant margin. This is no longer an anomaly, but rather a pattern of failure under the leadership of CEO Robert Isom and the American Airlines Board of Directors.
American’s workforce is not the problem. Leadership is.
Employees have a vested interest in seeing American succeed. Our jobs and our futures depend on it. Yet while employees deliver every day, American remains a distant third behind Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, and at or near the bottom of the industry.
While Competitors Finances Surge Upward, American Continues to Lag
The contrast is undeniable.
These results reflect priorities—and American’s priorities are being exposed by comparison.
Wall Street Journal 2025 Rankings Show American Airlines at the Bottom
In October of 2025, we communicated concernsabout American ranking dead last in overall customer satisfaction in the J.D. Power North America Airline Satisfaction Study and hoped that we would see improvements in all areas. Sadly, that is not the case.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal released its 2025 Best and Worst Airline Rankings for 2025, and American Airlines was once again left behind our competitors in almost every measured category, with performance worsening in many categories year-over-year. For Overall Best Airline, American slipped from fifth place in 2023 to last place in 2025. American ranked in the bottom three for on-time arrivals, mishandled baggage, and involuntary denied boardings. American ranked dead last in canceled flights. (Source: The Wall Street Journal)
It is easy to see why employees, investors, and Wall Street are deeply concerned, and it is no surprise why CEO Robert Isom has ended all Labor-management meetings, employee town halls, Crew News sessions, and, perhaps most telling, the question-and-answer session at today’s State of the Airline.
They don’t have answers, and the excuses have run out.
Employees see the reality every day. Long-overdue upgrades to onboard products are welcomed, but they cannot make up for poor strategic decisions or an uncompetitive hard product. While we are happy to see leadership upgrade our premium cabins, our coach cabins, where many of our most loyal customers are seated, are outdated, uncomfortable, and far from competitive.
Lack of investment in the product has left American years behind its competitors, forcing employees to absorb the consequences and apologize for management’s inaction as leadership delivers the same lackluster results, quarter after quarter.
To management we ask: What is American’s plan to compete? Why are we not hearing from the Board of Directors as American continues to fall further behind?
The status quo is indefensible. The bottom of the rankings, quarter after quarter, is unacceptable. Accountability at the top is long overdue.
American’s hardworking employees want nothing more than to see this airline lead the industry, and we are ready to make that happen. But leadership has failed to clearly define our brand, articulate who we want to be as an airline, or provide the staffing, tools, and resources necessary. Quarter after quarter, executives leave employees to carry the weight of their mismanagement while American falls further behind.
For years, CEO Robert Isom and his team have solely focused on Accountability, Reliability, and Profitability, ignoring investment in our product and the overall customer experience. During that time, our competitors focused on all aspects of their airlines, while American now stumbles to pick up the pieces.
The employees at American Airlines, our passengers and the investors can no longer wait for Robert Isom and the American Airlines Board of Directors to deliver on their empty promises.
As the entire industry leaves American Airlines in the dust, it is time for new leadership and a new vision for American Airlines.
American flight attendants want a new CEO
The flight attendant union is undeniably correct
People can disagree as to the extent to which frontline employees at American are responsible for the company’s failures. However, I don’t think anyone could reasonably deny that American’s management team has for a long time lacked a vision, and is primarily to blame for what’s going on.
Several weeks ago I wrote a post posing the question of who is going to fix American, and when they’re going to replace Isom. I would love for anyone to try to make a coherent argument for how the current management team is leading the company in the right direction, and is taking drastic enough steps to make up lost ground.
Even if you take past failures out of the equation, just look at American’s earnings call transcript. Is there anything that Isom said that gives us hope that he has a vision, and that things will improve? As I view it, the narrative basically boils down to the following:
“We’re positioned for lots of upside” — yes, when you dig yourself a deep enough hole and profits decline 87% year-over-year, hopefully there is some upside
“Premium, premium, premium” — right, but that’s also what Delta and United are doing, so simply trying to narrow the gap a bit isn’t going to be a competitive advantage
“We have an amazing route network” — yes, if Charlotte (CLT) and Dallas (DFW) and domestic travel are all you care about, then maybe that’s true
Isom even went so far as to say that “we know who we are, we’re a premium global airline.” See, that’s the problem… if you think that’s who you are, then you really don’t know who you are.
The most fundamental job of a CEO is to “rally the troops” and get employees behind a vision, and that’s something that American’s management team simply hasn’t done. And quite honestly, they’re simply too far gone, and have lost the ability to command any respect from frontline employees, after so much failure.
Any turnaround of American requires a motivated workforce, and that can only be done with new management. And no, reshuffling of the “Tempe boys” (in reference to all the ex-America West people still running things) isn’t going to do anything. An actual outsider needs to come in, with a radically more ambitious vision.
I’ve said it before, and I’m not meaning to volunteer anyone for a job here, because I can’t imagine he would actually want to step into this mess, but American needs someone like Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith to fix things. The airline needs someone who excels at labor relations, who can motivate employees, and who is good at actually fixing things quickly (just look at Air France’s fleet transformation, compared to that of Lufthansa, as an example).
What are the odds that something actually happens? Probably pretty low. For so long I was like a naive kid, thinking “wait, the board’s job is to make sure they have the right people in place to run the company, because their obligation is to shareholders, right?” I didn’t realize the extent to which in the United States, boards are basically like country clubs, where the best course of action is to just do nothing, take your paycheck for doing little work, and fall in line. And that’s exactly what we’re seeing.
American needs a new vision, under a new management team
Bottom line
American’s flight attendant union is demanding management change, after another disappointing year of financial results. The airline saw an 87% decline in profits year-over-year, and it’s getting to the point where the airline is barely breaking even. So while Delta is aiming for a 10% margin, American can’t even achieve a 1% margin.
The worst part is that management doesn’t actually seem to have a vision to fix things, other than continuing with the status quo, and thinking that they’re continuing to make good progress.
I’m not suggesting someone else could fix the airline overnight. What I am suggesting is that a CEO’s job is to motivate employees, and the current management team has lost respect of the team, due to their lack of a vision.
US airline CEOs earn eight figures, and I don’t think anyone could argue that American’s current CEO is the best candidate for the job. It’s time for change, it’s just a function of when we’ll see it…
Do you think we’ll see a management change at American sooner rather than later, or will the board just continue on their paid vacation?
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I am officially calling for Delta Airlines to be rebranded to "Tim Dunn's Delta Airlines" or "Delta Airlines by Tim Dunn" perhaps a name for a regional express carrier, yes?
1. Other than Ben Smith, can you come up with 2-3 other, realistic, names who you think would succeed in the role?
2. Would it ever happen where someone outside the airline industry could/would get the job? Would they even be interested? Richard Fain, Jason Liberty, Mark Hoplamazian, Sébastien Bazin, Josh Weinstein (Carnival)? Some of these names--or someone like Greg Foran--sounds like they're tailor-made for where AA is at the moment.
I'm not anti-union, or do I find anything they say incorrect. However, is it a strategic move for APFA to compare American against non-unionized Delta?
I do about 120BIS miles a year and follow Ben and various other blogs (including FT) - avid about points, status programs, etc. I manage all of the traveling for my extended family with regards to advice, routes, etc - my friends ask me for help also.
Over the years from my readings, including stuff like WSJ, CNN, etc, I have come to the conclusion that I will never fly on AA. I cant recall...
I do about 120BIS miles a year and follow Ben and various other blogs (including FT) - avid about points, status programs, etc. I manage all of the traveling for my extended family with regards to advice, routes, etc - my friends ask me for help also.
Over the years from my readings, including stuff like WSJ, CNN, etc, I have come to the conclusion that I will never fly on AA. I cant recall the last time I flew on them - nor will I in the future. Whenever a friend tells me that they have a flight on AA.... I ask "why"
It is clear - they have a major problem and that problem is that they have a problem and refuse to acknowledge it.
AA's FA union dug its own grave by ousting Horton and welcoming Parker. However, the main culprit of any company's financial upheavals lies in the culture of management (namely the C-suite) and the rank and file. The CEO influences the selection of Board of Director members and the board members return the favor by aligning with CEO's agendas and priorities. Different unions have different interests and mostly fight for their own interests with little or...
AA's FA union dug its own grave by ousting Horton and welcoming Parker. However, the main culprit of any company's financial upheavals lies in the culture of management (namely the C-suite) and the rank and file. The CEO influences the selection of Board of Director members and the board members return the favor by aligning with CEO's agendas and priorities. Different unions have different interests and mostly fight for their own interests with little or no support for other unions. But the societal culture invokes and pursues Darwin's theory of the survival of the fittest -- kind of the wealthy and powerful will dominate and control all aspects of life. A vast majority of the workforce and populace lack analysis skill who tend to vote for people having the best persuasion skill, without understanding their history and pattern of conducts. If we emphasize the power of persuasion to sell one's vision, the scammers and con men will top the list and attract the most undeserved attention. It is the main reason why the west did not elect competent political leaders in nearly half a century.
As someone with a not-so-distant past life of being employed by AA, I can say that most of the diagnoses being written about the upper leadership are largely accurate. The performance and demeanor of some of the front line employees can be, let's say frosty (at best) sometimes, but at the core of it, the front line people really do care. They're backed in to a corner by leadership that cares far more about closing...
As someone with a not-so-distant past life of being employed by AA, I can say that most of the diagnoses being written about the upper leadership are largely accurate. The performance and demeanor of some of the front line employees can be, let's say frosty (at best) sometimes, but at the core of it, the front line people really do care. They're backed in to a corner by leadership that cares far more about closing the door at a given time than treating customers with respect.
The downward trend is real, but it's still fixable. There are lots of great front line and lower/mid management who care and can make the airline successful again, but agree that they need change from the top that will lead and create meaningful and relevant goals and strategies to achieve them.
As an Executive Platinum member for over 20 years and an AA flyer for almost 40 years, I have firsthand experienced AA's downfall. AA needs a total revamp of its hard and soft products, no copy and paste with bandages. If AA wants to succeed, taking good care of its elite passengers in the lounge and on the airplane is a first step. Most front-line employees are indifferent to management's call to improve their customer...
As an Executive Platinum member for over 20 years and an AA flyer for almost 40 years, I have firsthand experienced AA's downfall. AA needs a total revamp of its hard and soft products, no copy and paste with bandages. If AA wants to succeed, taking good care of its elite passengers in the lounge and on the airplane is a first step. Most front-line employees are indifferent to management's call to improve their customer interactions because management is not fully invested in AA's success.
On a two hour flight with 5 minutes of turbulence and the seatbelt light turned off 25 minutes in, AA flight attendants decided to play on their phones for over an hour instead of performing beverage service. Plenty of blame to go around.
AA was doomed the day they merged with USeless airways. The only way they can get out of this mess is to fire everyone from US air (management to front line employees)
No one ever thought or will think US airways as a premium airline
You can't run any company with the proportion of non-believers that AA has. It just fundamentally will not work. Every company is driven by its believers, and management's job is the convince their employees to believe. Beyond the profit sharing and the concrete numbers, AA mismanaged every advantage they had and there is no concrete plan we see they're driving to.
Employee morale must be through the floor, and I feel for all the employees...
You can't run any company with the proportion of non-believers that AA has. It just fundamentally will not work. Every company is driven by its believers, and management's job is the convince their employees to believe. Beyond the profit sharing and the concrete numbers, AA mismanaged every advantage they had and there is no concrete plan we see they're driving to.
Employee morale must be through the floor, and I feel for all the employees there. It's impossible to put in good work for an entity and/or a boss you do not respect and believe in.
I was just talking to my friend about how AA might not be around in 4 years if they continue down this road. The flight attendant union has every right to be concerned because that is 25,000 of their jobs on the line, tens of thousands of families. I have to wonder, though, what does a good strategy look like for AA? Where can they have a competitive transpacific hub, for starters?
The right leadership with charismatic storytelling and persuasion can achieve great things. Large numbers of people can be persuaded to support almost anything, with the right charismatic leader + message. Prove me wrong.
@ DenB -- 10000%. And I think that's what so many people miss in all of this. A large part of a turnaround has to include getting labor onboard with a vision, and the current team just isn't able to do that.
There's something to be said for enjoying the fruits of your (successful) labors for a while, rather than jumping straight into a different dumpster fire.
AA proves why profits matter and why AA employees have no incentive to do anything more than to do their job and go home at the end of their shift or flight(s).
AA employees universally embraced US Airways hostile takeover of AA which allowed Doug Parker and Scott Kirby to turn AA into a LCC on steroids.
It is doubtful that AA can fully overcome the strategic errors it has made
But let's also be...
AA proves why profits matter and why AA employees have no incentive to do anything more than to do their job and go home at the end of their shift or flight(s).
AA employees universally embraced US Airways hostile takeover of AA which allowed Doug Parker and Scott Kirby to turn AA into a LCC on steroids.
It is doubtful that AA can fully overcome the strategic errors it has made
But let's also be clear that DL and UA are not even close to being in the same camp financially.
UA made just 2/3 of what DL made in 2025 while flying 10% more ASMs.
Scott Kirby has made it his mission in life to do all he can do to screw over AA and AA's current and previous mgmt - which included Kirby himself -did wonders to make UA's job now easier.
The long-term outlook for AA is still very cloudy. They have no stockholder equity and exist solely to provide jobs - lots of them - and to keep the banks and financial institutions that hold AA's debt happy.
Don’t bother. He can’t help it. But we are all rooting for him once he gets medical treatment. He seems to have a condition that makes him believe that everyone else has the same sick obsession that he has. That’s why 99% of what he writes is “you can’t stand to see DL bla bla”. His condition doesn’t allow him to realize that no one gives a crap about this.
just discuss the facts.
Other people can say most of the same things and you don't flip out but the minute the comparisons include UA, half of the regular posters here go nuts.
I'm not really sure why you want American to compete, Ben. Competing means more alignment with DL/AA, removing a number of arguably overgenerous opportunities such as partner mileage redemption, and I'm scared to even list what else.
@ Chris D -- I think Delta is successful in spite of its SkyMiles program, and not because of it. At least I don't think that's specifically a competitive advantage. Meanwhile for American, I'd say that its loyalty program is a competitive advantage. Improving service, product, and route network, doesn't have to come at the expense of a good loyalty program.
Well I can't switch to United for two reasons.
1. AA is my company's preferred carrier with WN as the back up. There is little chance I would ever fly Southwest. Has to be one of those hell has just frozen over things.
2. I just don't understand UA or come to think of it DL's program at all. All those MQPs, MQFs and MQDs things are confusing to me.
This seem to be a typical case of employees blaming others (i.e., management) for their problems instead of taking personal responsibility for their job performance. I also have to question the author's qualifications when it comes to passing judgment on an airline's top management. Writing a blog on points and miles isn't quite the same as being the CEO of a major airline. It's easy to be a critic when one knows the outcome of...
This seem to be a typical case of employees blaming others (i.e., management) for their problems instead of taking personal responsibility for their job performance. I also have to question the author's qualifications when it comes to passing judgment on an airline's top management. Writing a blog on points and miles isn't quite the same as being the CEO of a major airline. It's easy to be a critic when one knows the outcome of the decisions that were made in the past. Do I believe that American's management and Board shouldn't be held accountable for the airlines financial underperformance? Not at all. But I do suggest that they just might have much better data than any of us do.
@ DesertGhost -- You're totally fair to argue that I'm not qualified to speak on this, but I'd challenge you to actually disagree with anything I'm arguing. Is American management doing right by anyone? By employees? By shareholders? By their own projections? Forget what I'm saying, look at what they've been saying, and the lack of momentum we've seen.
Heck, remember when former American CEO Doug Parker claimed the airline would earn $3 billion in...
@ DesertGhost -- You're totally fair to argue that I'm not qualified to speak on this, but I'd challenge you to actually disagree with anything I'm arguing. Is American management doing right by anyone? By employees? By shareholders? By their own projections? Forget what I'm saying, look at what they've been saying, and the lack of momentum we've seen.
Heck, remember when former American CEO Doug Parker claimed the airline would earn $3 billion in a bad year, and predicted the carrier's stock would hit $60 by a certain point? And look at how far off he was...
If American management has some data we don't know, then they still aren't being honest about it. Where is their acknowledgement then that "hey, we just can't be very profitable," rather than claiming over and over that they're making great progress, and everything is fine?
Yep, many of us who provide commentary & analysis about airlines don’t have C-Suite experience.
But, when we’re at our best, we do offer the unique perspective as ordinary flyers & industry experts, where it’s our job to “grade” or critique airlines, be it the passenger experience we & those we trust most discuss with us, financial performance, both, or other, more specialized aspects that some industry experts offer.
Taken together, one would be hard...
Yep, many of us who provide commentary & analysis about airlines don’t have C-Suite experience.
But, when we’re at our best, we do offer the unique perspective as ordinary flyers & industry experts, where it’s our job to “grade” or critique airlines, be it the passenger experience we & those we trust most discuss with us, financial performance, both, or other, more specialized aspects that some industry experts offer.
Taken together, one would be hard pressed to find anyone, be it Wall Street Analysts, top industry consultants, or journalists & bloggers, that views the current AA management as positively as those at Delta, or more recently (since Oscar Muñoz era), United (domestically/US flag carriers) or as others have noted, Ben Smith at Air France.
AA was beset with bad management labor relations before it filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in November, 2011 & was on a downward trajectory even before Doug Parker took over in 2013.
Parker & his “America West-ification” of American just made things worse after he & his team took over.
The results speak for themselves, be they financial or passenger satisfaction.
Not to mention the airline’s high debt, which partly resulted from it (unwisely) spending more than $12 billion to fund stock buybacks from 2014-19 when Parker was CEO, & (astonishingly) proclaimed his airline would never lose money again - in an industry better known for its history of eye watering losses & stunning bankruptcies by its biggest brands than consistent profits.
And these results speak to an airline adrift & lacking vision in an industry where costs are high, operations are incredibly complex & wildly unpredictable (weather, oil, labor, just to name a few) & profit margins are notoriously thin even in the best of times.
And, as many have noted here & elsewhere, AA made many poor decisions compared to its biggest competitors Delta & United in terms of PaxEx & fleet composition, before, during & after Covid-19 emerged in early 2020.
Perhaps one might simply call AA’s management uninspired, which clearly isn’t good enough anymore, but never really was.
Those are the aspects (be they qualitative, quantitative or both) that those of us who follow the industry closely are qualified to speak to, as we (love to) do!
WOW! What a day for The Duncler (Occasionally known utterly as Tim Dunn). HUGE Delta order (the largest ever) and AA profits, revenue, sales and customer experience + employee engagement having "TOTALLY Tanked". We're sure Tom Deuce (Tim) is "partying hard"! Pour yourself a drink, Deuce, you've earned it! You're online commentary has been INVALUVALE to the Delta becoming the "most successful airline in the world" as you have stated (many, many times.es)
It speaks volumes about yesterday that UA announced another escalation of its fight with AA and DL announced another widebody order -its second this month - which secures DL's position with the most growth potential in international markets - where UA has obtained its greatest identity
@ Tim Dunn -- I'll play for a second why not. By what metric, specifically, does Delta have the most international growth potential, and over what timeline? Because United has a lot more wide body planes on order than Delta.
For the longest time, I thought @Tim Dunn was a poorly developed bot operated by Delta interns. I was shocked when I discovered this is a real person.
I am also interested in hearing about Delta’s international growth potential. I travel to AA or UA hubs to connect to the world via partners. DL takes me to AMS where I am constantly delayed, canceled and under capacity reductions. DL/AF has been a bright spot, however.
At some point a corporate culture is so broken and so ingrained that it can't be fixed. Why would a competent and experienced airline executive want to be CEO of AA? Yes, the money will be good, but it will be a joyless experience and the end of your professional reputation.
@ Mark F -- I'm going to disagree here, respectfully. For one, the money to be earned as the CEO of a "big three" carrier is massive, as you point out.
But I actually think that for the right person, this would be an incredibly fun challenge. American has a ton of upside potential -- I don't think the airline is so far gone that it can't be fixed, I just think it has been...
@ Mark F -- I'm going to disagree here, respectfully. For one, the money to be earned as the CEO of a "big three" carrier is massive, as you point out.
But I actually think that for the right person, this would be an incredibly fun challenge. American has a ton of upside potential -- I don't think the airline is so far gone that it can't be fixed, I just think it has been mismanaged for a long time. I think a good leader would get a real thrill out of moving the airline in the right direction. The trick it, it would need to be a real outsider who isn't part of the current echo chamber, which seems to limit any sort of outside the box thinking.
Since I mentioned Air France-KLM's CEO, let me remind you that the previous CEO quit after he was essentially dragged off a fence by employees, as the situation got that bad. Air France was the poorly run airline, and KLM was saving the airline group. Look how massively things have changed over the past decade...
Ben, I certainly hope you're right. It would, indeed, be a tremendous career win if someone turned things around. But the room for that new leader to maneuver will be so constrained by debt, limited aircraft delivery slots, existing union contracts, competitors on the hunt for gates and junior pilots, and a workforce with many older and long embittered employees, that it may be a futile undertaking (pun intended). I suspect that if a turn-around...
Ben, I certainly hope you're right. It would, indeed, be a tremendous career win if someone turned things around. But the room for that new leader to maneuver will be so constrained by debt, limited aircraft delivery slots, existing union contracts, competitors on the hunt for gates and junior pilots, and a workforce with many older and long embittered employees, that it may be a futile undertaking (pun intended). I suspect that if a turn-around was a reasonable hope, we would have heard rumors of a private equity consortium or an airline holding company nosing around. I wonder if AA's parts have more value than the whole.
Corporate greed plain and simple. Gross. I love the staff on American but they are right. Poor leadership (sadly a value in the US) is driving this company down. Our population is seeing loud and clear what poor corporate leadership does and do not hold these CEOs in high regard.
Nah, the crews on AA and their competitors are doing just fine; nearly all professionals who get the job done. You're just punching-down for whatever reason... oh, yeah, how Trumpian.
Sometimes it doesn't even matter whether one assigns blame correctly. If many things have been tried and didn't work, try something different. Or, if the people in charge refuse to try things and the results are bad, try someone different.
One thing for sure: airlines can turn around. Why hasn't American?
Since the merger with US Airways, service culture is gone. AA became just a basic carrier flying you in dull grey planes from point A to B. This might work for a little while, but clearly it's not working as US and DL have caught up quickly. As a loyal AA flyer (EXP since 2008), I can attest that the FA's on AA do a bare minimum job, which I am sure is instructed by...
Since the merger with US Airways, service culture is gone. AA became just a basic carrier flying you in dull grey planes from point A to B. This might work for a little while, but clearly it's not working as US and DL have caught up quickly. As a loyal AA flyer (EXP since 2008), I can attest that the FA's on AA do a bare minimum job, which I am sure is instructed by leadership. There is no recognition of their top tier members (like other OW carriers do), upgrades pretty much don't exist anymore (I booked a LHR - JFK flight yesterday; all 52 biz class seats open but I am on waitlist for a systemwide) and when you book biz class it's a gamble on what seat you might get (Concept D or Diamond). UA and DL clearly have done a much better job in maintaining their standards and surpass AA big time. Sad, but that's how I feel as a loyal AA flyer.
Running a solid operation takes investment and people resources. Not AI slob sold by Big Tech as the "savior." I should know, I live this every day in which companies are told they no longer need tech support but just pay for a link to an AI chatbot.
Management doesn't seem to want to spend the money because at least in the interim it would depress already inferior financial performance. So, they stick with stuff...
Running a solid operation takes investment and people resources. Not AI slob sold by Big Tech as the "savior." I should know, I live this every day in which companies are told they no longer need tech support but just pay for a link to an AI chatbot.
Management doesn't seem to want to spend the money because at least in the interim it would depress already inferior financial performance. So, they stick with stuff like a new brand of coffee or business class wine that they spend 50 cents more on a bottle for.
@1990 I live in Miami. Do you know what Miami is like in the summer? Every single day 6-8 months out of the year the airport closes down because of thunderstorms. The only other domestic carrier at MIA (UA is next to nothing and I'm certainly not flying Frontier) is DL, which means other than a handful of direct flights it's a connection in ATL. Another place that has almost daily thunderstorms 6-8 months out...
@1990 I live in Miami. Do you know what Miami is like in the summer? Every single day 6-8 months out of the year the airport closes down because of thunderstorms. The only other domestic carrier at MIA (UA is next to nothing and I'm certainly not flying Frontier) is DL, which means other than a handful of direct flights it's a connection in ATL. Another place that has almost daily thunderstorms 6-8 months out of the year. So I'd want to f around with thunderstorms in MIA and then at ATL on a connection. No thanks, AA might be worse than DL but it's not worth turning a three hour flight into a two day ordeal in which to get there I might have to settle for a middle seat. But again, this is probably a bit beyond your understanding,
This is the result of AA not being disciplined during covid and needing to raise more money than other airlines. They took on a significant amount of debt that is being paid back aggressively. They forecast something like $1.5bn profit for 2026 which helps illustrate the fact that they’re digging themselves out of the hole they dug.
Who remembers during covid when AA was scheduling tons of flights when competitors weren’t? Here is the result of that.
Isom "may" be a good leader in the right situation, but his skills and the skills of his team are simply misaligned with what the company needs at this moment. Isom and team are failing to recognize they are in turnaround mode. They need to stop standing in front of the dumpster fire saying, "move along, nothing to see here, everything's fine."
“American’s workforce is not the problem. Leadership is.”
As someone who flies AA nearly weekly, I can strongly state that the workforce is 95% of the problem.
If they don’t share responsibility when things are bad, why should they share profit when things are good? They’re either part of the results or not.
If unions can organize to wear their dumb unsightly contract lanyards or picket, they could certainly organize to improve service...
“American’s workforce is not the problem. Leadership is.”
As someone who flies AA nearly weekly, I can strongly state that the workforce is 95% of the problem.
If they don’t share responsibility when things are bad, why should they share profit when things are good? They’re either part of the results or not.
If unions can organize to wear their dumb unsightly contract lanyards or picket, they could certainly organize to improve service which would lead to higher profit sharing without having a new “daddy” to rally them. Pointing fingers while your side of the street is filthy is quite something.
@ Sel, D. -- I certainly agree that American has a service culture issue, because service isn't as consistently good as it needs to be. However, I think we can all agree that just as American has some bad apples, it also has some really good apples.
Just a few weeks ago I wrote about my experience in Philadelphia, where I interacted with one of the worst and one of the best American employees...
@ Sel, D. -- I certainly agree that American has a service culture issue, because service isn't as consistently good as it needs to be. However, I think we can all agree that just as American has some bad apples, it also has some really good apples.
Just a few weeks ago I wrote about my experience in Philadelphia, where I interacted with one of the worst and one of the best American employees I've had in a long time, just minutes apart:
https://onemileatatime.com/insights/american-airlines-culture-problem/
So you can absolutely blame "the union" if you'd like (and I do think organized labor is important, but also causes some issues), but that's not really fair to the individual frontline employees. It's similar to blaming *all* Americans for the actions of the president (this isn't a political statement -- you can pick your president).
The point is that employees at a major company deserve their CEO (who is compensated eight figures) to do a good job setting the tone for where the company is headed, and what's expected of employees. For years, management just said "the schedule is the product," which doesn't exactly do much to motivate employees.
So if American management has a turnaround and suddenly sets a great vision, and employee morale and service doesn't improve, then I think your points are valid. But it's hard to blame employees while management continues to fail.
Agree with Sel that the workforce has an outsized chunk of responsibility here. As a weekly commuter in the MIA-LGA market, sure I only contribute $15-20k a year in flying revenue, but the absolute disdain for customers I encountered on AA was double or triple the amount of "good apples" and enough for me to question why I wasn't just dealing with Spirit out of FLL and getting the big front seat for around the...
Agree with Sel that the workforce has an outsized chunk of responsibility here. As a weekly commuter in the MIA-LGA market, sure I only contribute $15-20k a year in flying revenue, but the absolute disdain for customers I encountered on AA was double or triple the amount of "good apples" and enough for me to question why I wasn't just dealing with Spirit out of FLL and getting the big front seat for around the same price. I'm sacrificing what? watered down EXP benefits and the chance to use one or two leisure premium cabin SWU or miles redemptions each year that force me to connect through Heathrow. AA's hard product is fine (maybe the lack of tvs suck in economy but who cares). The CEO can only do so much, but there needs to be a shared culture shift (if you literally hate customers - READ - two guys in a cockpit IG -) and you can publicly bash the company you work for on social media and in front of customers, you're passion probably isn't hospitality and you need to move along.
Moreover, in many ways employees have become hand strung. It used to be you'd get exceptional service from Admirals Club staff but today that's rare. With the clubs now packed to the gills (and needless to say AA isn't alone) instead of 2-4 people to deal with there's 50 people trying to get an AC agent to help them. So instead of spending 10-15 minutes they're forced to give you the first option that appears...
Moreover, in many ways employees have become hand strung. It used to be you'd get exceptional service from Admirals Club staff but today that's rare. With the clubs now packed to the gills (and needless to say AA isn't alone) instead of 2-4 people to deal with there's 50 people trying to get an AC agent to help them. So instead of spending 10-15 minutes they're forced to give you the first option that appears on their screen and that's that because there's a line of people waiting.
I fly AA at least once a week and IME the breakdown is 70% of crew good to excellent, 20%-25% does the minimum or less and 5%-10% downright hostile.
It's a cop-out to blame the union or an individual worker who you or someone else has a scuffle with; the issues at AA are with management; they set the tone and direction. I applaud their attempts to finally 'pivot to premium,' but it'll take time. And, clearly, their relationship with Citi is not as lucrative as Delta's with Amex, unfortunately for AA.
@Lucky makes sense, I guess the whole thing stinks. Blaming just the coach when the players are also unremarkable isn’t quite fair though. It’s not like leadership can just go hire a bunch of better employees.
My bigger fear is the economic pressures will finally lead to the best thing they have being diminished - the loyalty program. If that gets aligned with UA, I’d probably stick around, but if aligned with DL I’d switch teams asap.
@Ben isn't that the problem...inconsistency. You can go from having the best experience with an airline employee right to the worst experience on the same flight. If AA wants to be premium they need to sweat the details, and the biggest detail is consistency.
One thing I know when I fly Spirit is I consistently get the same experience from the FAs...and I've adapted to that. But, AA claims they are something they are...
@Ben isn't that the problem...inconsistency. You can go from having the best experience with an airline employee right to the worst experience on the same flight. If AA wants to be premium they need to sweat the details, and the biggest detail is consistency.
One thing I know when I fly Spirit is I consistently get the same experience from the FAs...and I've adapted to that. But, AA claims they are something they are not. The in-flight premium experience is all about the crew and how they leverage the resources they have in front of them. Does management set the tone? Yes. But, each employee chooses how they will engage passengers. A lot of us work in dysfunctional environments. Professionals rise above it. Children use it as an excuse to do as little as they can.
The employees are not victims, they have agency to find another job. Maybe if enough employees leave in frustration AA will get the hint.
Moral is and has been atrocious and as a 20+ year former employee, I agree with your response wholeheartedly. The employees may be at fault for bad customer facing service but the fix for this and ALL the other problems (strategy, PR, branding, customer experience, etc) lies with upper management, not the guy/girl loading your bag or serving you the "convenience store level" first class meal. As management I only ever recall our strategy only...
Moral is and has been atrocious and as a 20+ year former employee, I agree with your response wholeheartedly. The employees may be at fault for bad customer facing service but the fix for this and ALL the other problems (strategy, PR, branding, customer experience, etc) lies with upper management, not the guy/girl loading your bag or serving you the "convenience store level" first class meal. As management I only ever recall our strategy only ever being "what are the other guys doing?" and never ever recall taking the lead. And yes, it only exacerbated the problem ten fold when the Tempe guys took over with only the one belief that became the focus, goal, target, mantra, and seemingly spiritual experience that only efficiency = profitability; customer loyalty, employee loyalty, partnerships, service, true leadership, vision, hard product be damned.
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ParnelGold
January 28, 2026, 10:39 am
Seriously you need to get a life
5
Eduardo_brDiamond
January 28, 2026, 11:09 am
Don’t bother. He can’t help it. But we are all rooting for him once he gets medical treatment. He seems to have a condition that makes him believe that everyone else has the same sick obsession that he has. That’s why 99% of what he writes is “you can’t stand to see DL bla bla”. His condition doesn’t allow him to realize that no one gives a crap about this.
4
betterbubDiamond
January 28, 2026, 10:56 am
You can't run any company with the proportion of non-believers that AA has. It just fundamentally will not work. Every company is driven by its believers, and management's job is the convince their employees to believe. Beyond the profit sharing and the concrete numbers, AA mismanaged every advantage they had and there is no concrete plan we see they're driving to.
Employee morale must be through the floor, and I feel for all the employees there. It's impossible to put in good work for an entity and/or a boss you do not respect and believe in.
I am officially calling for Delta Airlines to be rebranded to "Tim Dunn's Delta Airlines" or "Delta Airlines by Tim Dunn" perhaps a name for a regional express carrier, yes?
Ben-
1. Other than Ben Smith, can you come up with 2-3 other, realistic, names who you think would succeed in the role?
2. Would it ever happen where someone outside the airline industry could/would get the job? Would they even be interested? Richard Fain, Jason Liberty, Mark Hoplamazian, Sébastien Bazin, Josh Weinstein (Carnival)? Some of these names--or someone like Greg Foran--sounds like they're tailor-made for where AA is at the moment.
1. Tin Dunn, Tim Dunn, Tim Dunn.
2. NO.
I'm not anti-union, or do I find anything they say incorrect. However, is it a strategic move for APFA to compare American against non-unionized Delta?
Richard Anderson would of been a great pick for AA.
I do about 120BIS miles a year and follow Ben and various other blogs (including FT) - avid about points, status programs, etc. I manage all of the traveling for my extended family with regards to advice, routes, etc - my friends ask me for help also.
Over the years from my readings, including stuff like WSJ, CNN, etc, I have come to the conclusion that I will never fly on AA. I cant recall...
I do about 120BIS miles a year and follow Ben and various other blogs (including FT) - avid about points, status programs, etc. I manage all of the traveling for my extended family with regards to advice, routes, etc - my friends ask me for help also.
Over the years from my readings, including stuff like WSJ, CNN, etc, I have come to the conclusion that I will never fly on AA. I cant recall the last time I flew on them - nor will I in the future. Whenever a friend tells me that they have a flight on AA.... I ask "why"
It is clear - they have a major problem and that problem is that they have a problem and refuse to acknowledge it.
The entire Board of Directors needs to be replaced along with the CEO.
AA's FA union dug its own grave by ousting Horton and welcoming Parker. However, the main culprit of any company's financial upheavals lies in the culture of management (namely the C-suite) and the rank and file. The CEO influences the selection of Board of Director members and the board members return the favor by aligning with CEO's agendas and priorities. Different unions have different interests and mostly fight for their own interests with little or...
AA's FA union dug its own grave by ousting Horton and welcoming Parker. However, the main culprit of any company's financial upheavals lies in the culture of management (namely the C-suite) and the rank and file. The CEO influences the selection of Board of Director members and the board members return the favor by aligning with CEO's agendas and priorities. Different unions have different interests and mostly fight for their own interests with little or no support for other unions. But the societal culture invokes and pursues Darwin's theory of the survival of the fittest -- kind of the wealthy and powerful will dominate and control all aspects of life. A vast majority of the workforce and populace lack analysis skill who tend to vote for people having the best persuasion skill, without understanding their history and pattern of conducts. If we emphasize the power of persuasion to sell one's vision, the scammers and con men will top the list and attract the most undeserved attention. It is the main reason why the west did not elect competent political leaders in nearly half a century.
As someone with a not-so-distant past life of being employed by AA, I can say that most of the diagnoses being written about the upper leadership are largely accurate. The performance and demeanor of some of the front line employees can be, let's say frosty (at best) sometimes, but at the core of it, the front line people really do care. They're backed in to a corner by leadership that cares far more about closing...
As someone with a not-so-distant past life of being employed by AA, I can say that most of the diagnoses being written about the upper leadership are largely accurate. The performance and demeanor of some of the front line employees can be, let's say frosty (at best) sometimes, but at the core of it, the front line people really do care. They're backed in to a corner by leadership that cares far more about closing the door at a given time than treating customers with respect.
The downward trend is real, but it's still fixable. There are lots of great front line and lower/mid management who care and can make the airline successful again, but agree that they need change from the top that will lead and create meaningful and relevant goals and strategies to achieve them.
“we know who we are, we’re a premium global airline.”
https://www.wflx.com/2026/01/27/pipe-bursts-american-airlines-flight-carrying-north-palm-beach-family-during-winter-storm/
Sure you are...
As an Executive Platinum member for over 20 years and an AA flyer for almost 40 years, I have firsthand experienced AA's downfall. AA needs a total revamp of its hard and soft products, no copy and paste with bandages. If AA wants to succeed, taking good care of its elite passengers in the lounge and on the airplane is a first step. Most front-line employees are indifferent to management's call to improve their customer...
As an Executive Platinum member for over 20 years and an AA flyer for almost 40 years, I have firsthand experienced AA's downfall. AA needs a total revamp of its hard and soft products, no copy and paste with bandages. If AA wants to succeed, taking good care of its elite passengers in the lounge and on the airplane is a first step. Most front-line employees are indifferent to management's call to improve their customer interactions because management is not fully invested in AA's success.
On a two hour flight with 5 minutes of turbulence and the seatbelt light turned off 25 minutes in, AA flight attendants decided to play on their phones for over an hour instead of performing beverage service. Plenty of blame to go around.
Why don’t you press the call button? Repeatedly.
From FlightAware stats; AA (Mainline and PSL) has cancelled ~50% of flights across Sunday, Monday, Tuesday with another ~30% delayed.
15% canceled and 15% delayed already today (~noon ET).
For years they extol table stakes operational reliability, but cannot manage or communicate through an operational crisis
https://www.flightaware.com/live/cancelled/today
AA was doomed the day they merged with USeless airways. The only way they can get out of this mess is to fire everyone from US air (management to front line employees)
No one ever thought or will think US airways as a premium airline
You can't run any company with the proportion of non-believers that AA has. It just fundamentally will not work. Every company is driven by its believers, and management's job is the convince their employees to believe. Beyond the profit sharing and the concrete numbers, AA mismanaged every advantage they had and there is no concrete plan we see they're driving to.
Employee morale must be through the floor, and I feel for all the employees...
You can't run any company with the proportion of non-believers that AA has. It just fundamentally will not work. Every company is driven by its believers, and management's job is the convince their employees to believe. Beyond the profit sharing and the concrete numbers, AA mismanaged every advantage they had and there is no concrete plan we see they're driving to.
Employee morale must be through the floor, and I feel for all the employees there. It's impossible to put in good work for an entity and/or a boss you do not respect and believe in.
I was just talking to my friend about how AA might not be around in 4 years if they continue down this road. The flight attendant union has every right to be concerned because that is 25,000 of their jobs on the line, tens of thousands of families. I have to wonder, though, what does a good strategy look like for AA? Where can they have a competitive transpacific hub, for starters?
The right leadership with charismatic storytelling and persuasion can achieve great things. Large numbers of people can be persuaded to support almost anything, with the right charismatic leader + message. Prove me wrong.
@ DenB -- 10000%. And I think that's what so many people miss in all of this. A large part of a turnaround has to include getting labor onboard with a vision, and the current team just isn't able to do that.
I wonder what is Oscar Munoz up to?
It's time AA hired Ben Smith from Air France to fix the mess
Would he do it?
There's something to be said for enjoying the fruits of your (successful) labors for a while, rather than jumping straight into a different dumpster fire.
AA proves why profits matter and why AA employees have no incentive to do anything more than to do their job and go home at the end of their shift or flight(s).
AA employees universally embraced US Airways hostile takeover of AA which allowed Doug Parker and Scott Kirby to turn AA into a LCC on steroids.
It is doubtful that AA can fully overcome the strategic errors it has made
But let's also be...
AA proves why profits matter and why AA employees have no incentive to do anything more than to do their job and go home at the end of their shift or flight(s).
AA employees universally embraced US Airways hostile takeover of AA which allowed Doug Parker and Scott Kirby to turn AA into a LCC on steroids.
It is doubtful that AA can fully overcome the strategic errors it has made
But let's also be clear that DL and UA are not even close to being in the same camp financially.
UA made just 2/3 of what DL made in 2025 while flying 10% more ASMs.
Scott Kirby has made it his mission in life to do all he can do to screw over AA and AA's current and previous mgmt - which included Kirby himself -did wonders to make UA's job now easier.
The long-term outlook for AA is still very cloudy. They have no stockholder equity and exist solely to provide jobs - lots of them - and to keep the banks and financial institutions that hold AA's debt happy.
Seriously you need to get a life
your focus should be on discussing the truth which you and some others can't stand to see
Don’t bother. He can’t help it. But we are all rooting for him once he gets medical treatment. He seems to have a condition that makes him believe that everyone else has the same sick obsession that he has. That’s why 99% of what he writes is “you can’t stand to see DL bla bla”. His condition doesn’t allow him to realize that no one gives a crap about this.
just discuss the facts.
Other people can say most of the same things and you don't flip out but the minute the comparisons include UA, half of the regular posters here go nuts.
(I still like your stuff, Tim. The others can't handle your passion. Never stop.)
I'm not really sure why you want American to compete, Ben. Competing means more alignment with DL/AA, removing a number of arguably overgenerous opportunities such as partner mileage redemption, and I'm scared to even list what else.
@ Chris D -- I think Delta is successful in spite of its SkyMiles program, and not because of it. At least I don't think that's specifically a competitive advantage. Meanwhile for American, I'd say that its loyalty program is a competitive advantage. Improving service, product, and route network, doesn't have to come at the expense of a good loyalty program.
AAdavantage is the only reason I haven't switched to United, but I'm thinking about it.
Well I can't switch to United for two reasons.
1. AA is my company's preferred carrier with WN as the back up. There is little chance I would ever fly Southwest. Has to be one of those hell has just frozen over things.
2. I just don't understand UA or come to think of it DL's program at all. All those MQPs, MQFs and MQDs things are confusing to me.
This seem to be a typical case of employees blaming others (i.e., management) for their problems instead of taking personal responsibility for their job performance. I also have to question the author's qualifications when it comes to passing judgment on an airline's top management. Writing a blog on points and miles isn't quite the same as being the CEO of a major airline. It's easy to be a critic when one knows the outcome of...
This seem to be a typical case of employees blaming others (i.e., management) for their problems instead of taking personal responsibility for their job performance. I also have to question the author's qualifications when it comes to passing judgment on an airline's top management. Writing a blog on points and miles isn't quite the same as being the CEO of a major airline. It's easy to be a critic when one knows the outcome of the decisions that were made in the past. Do I believe that American's management and Board shouldn't be held accountable for the airlines financial underperformance? Not at all. But I do suggest that they just might have much better data than any of us do.
@ DesertGhost -- You're totally fair to argue that I'm not qualified to speak on this, but I'd challenge you to actually disagree with anything I'm arguing. Is American management doing right by anyone? By employees? By shareholders? By their own projections? Forget what I'm saying, look at what they've been saying, and the lack of momentum we've seen.
Heck, remember when former American CEO Doug Parker claimed the airline would earn $3 billion in...
@ DesertGhost -- You're totally fair to argue that I'm not qualified to speak on this, but I'd challenge you to actually disagree with anything I'm arguing. Is American management doing right by anyone? By employees? By shareholders? By their own projections? Forget what I'm saying, look at what they've been saying, and the lack of momentum we've seen.
Heck, remember when former American CEO Doug Parker claimed the airline would earn $3 billion in a bad year, and predicted the carrier's stock would hit $60 by a certain point? And look at how far off he was...
If American management has some data we don't know, then they still aren't being honest about it. Where is their acknowledgement then that "hey, we just can't be very profitable," rather than claiming over and over that they're making great progress, and everything is fine?
Yep, many of us who provide commentary & analysis about airlines don’t have C-Suite experience.
But, when we’re at our best, we do offer the unique perspective as ordinary flyers & industry experts, where it’s our job to “grade” or critique airlines, be it the passenger experience we & those we trust most discuss with us, financial performance, both, or other, more specialized aspects that some industry experts offer.
Taken together, one would be hard...
Yep, many of us who provide commentary & analysis about airlines don’t have C-Suite experience.
But, when we’re at our best, we do offer the unique perspective as ordinary flyers & industry experts, where it’s our job to “grade” or critique airlines, be it the passenger experience we & those we trust most discuss with us, financial performance, both, or other, more specialized aspects that some industry experts offer.
Taken together, one would be hard pressed to find anyone, be it Wall Street Analysts, top industry consultants, or journalists & bloggers, that views the current AA management as positively as those at Delta, or more recently (since Oscar Muñoz era), United (domestically/US flag carriers) or as others have noted, Ben Smith at Air France.
AA was beset with bad management labor relations before it filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in November, 2011 & was on a downward trajectory even before Doug Parker took over in 2013.
Parker & his “America West-ification” of American just made things worse after he & his team took over.
The results speak for themselves, be they financial or passenger satisfaction.
Not to mention the airline’s high debt, which partly resulted from it (unwisely) spending more than $12 billion to fund stock buybacks from 2014-19 when Parker was CEO, & (astonishingly) proclaimed his airline would never lose money again - in an industry better known for its history of eye watering losses & stunning bankruptcies by its biggest brands than consistent profits.
And these results speak to an airline adrift & lacking vision in an industry where costs are high, operations are incredibly complex & wildly unpredictable (weather, oil, labor, just to name a few) & profit margins are notoriously thin even in the best of times.
And, as many have noted here & elsewhere, AA made many poor decisions compared to its biggest competitors Delta & United in terms of PaxEx & fleet composition, before, during & after Covid-19 emerged in early 2020.
Perhaps one might simply call AA’s management uninspired, which clearly isn’t good enough anymore, but never really was.
Those are the aspects (be they qualitative, quantitative or both) that those of us who follow the industry closely are qualified to speak to, as we (love to) do!
"They have much better data than any of us do"
No amount of data can overcome lagging so far behind your competitors with no good reason
Data is just the starting point. It's how one interprets the data and the decisions made that matters.
WOW! What a day for The Duncler (Occasionally known utterly as Tim Dunn). HUGE Delta order (the largest ever) and AA profits, revenue, sales and customer experience + employee engagement having "TOTALLY Tanked". We're sure Tom Deuce (Tim) is "partying hard"! Pour yourself a drink, Deuce, you've earned it! You're online commentary has been INVALUVALE to the Delta becoming the "most successful airline in the world" as you have stated (many, many times.es)
It speaks volumes about yesterday that UA announced another escalation of its fight with AA and DL announced another widebody order -its second this month - which secures DL's position with the most growth potential in international markets - where UA has obtained its greatest identity
@ Tim Dunn -- I'll play for a second why not. By what metric, specifically, does Delta have the most international growth potential, and over what timeline? Because United has a lot more wide body planes on order than Delta.
For the longest time, I thought @Tim Dunn was a poorly developed bot operated by Delta interns. I was shocked when I discovered this is a real person.
I am also interested in hearing about Delta’s international growth potential. I travel to AA or UA hubs to connect to the world via partners. DL takes me to AMS where I am constantly delayed, canceled and under capacity reductions. DL/AF has been a bright spot, however.
Let's be fair. Do you think Rod sounds any less insane than Tim Dunn here?
Normal people don't obsess over what internet strangers think and type out equally delusional rants.
Tim hadn't even commented and this person decided to bring him into the discussion.
The numbers are indefensible. The current management has to go if AA has any chance to turn things around.
At some point a corporate culture is so broken and so ingrained that it can't be fixed. Why would a competent and experienced airline executive want to be CEO of AA? Yes, the money will be good, but it will be a joyless experience and the end of your professional reputation.
Well put. It's like American Airlines is the fat orange Nazi of airlines - everything/everyone it touches dies.
@ Mark F -- I'm going to disagree here, respectfully. For one, the money to be earned as the CEO of a "big three" carrier is massive, as you point out.
But I actually think that for the right person, this would be an incredibly fun challenge. American has a ton of upside potential -- I don't think the airline is so far gone that it can't be fixed, I just think it has been...
@ Mark F -- I'm going to disagree here, respectfully. For one, the money to be earned as the CEO of a "big three" carrier is massive, as you point out.
But I actually think that for the right person, this would be an incredibly fun challenge. American has a ton of upside potential -- I don't think the airline is so far gone that it can't be fixed, I just think it has been mismanaged for a long time. I think a good leader would get a real thrill out of moving the airline in the right direction. The trick it, it would need to be a real outsider who isn't part of the current echo chamber, which seems to limit any sort of outside the box thinking.
Since I mentioned Air France-KLM's CEO, let me remind you that the previous CEO quit after he was essentially dragged off a fence by employees, as the situation got that bad. Air France was the poorly run airline, and KLM was saving the airline group. Look how massively things have changed over the past decade...
Ben, I certainly hope you're right. It would, indeed, be a tremendous career win if someone turned things around. But the room for that new leader to maneuver will be so constrained by debt, limited aircraft delivery slots, existing union contracts, competitors on the hunt for gates and junior pilots, and a workforce with many older and long embittered employees, that it may be a futile undertaking (pun intended). I suspect that if a turn-around...
Ben, I certainly hope you're right. It would, indeed, be a tremendous career win if someone turned things around. But the room for that new leader to maneuver will be so constrained by debt, limited aircraft delivery slots, existing union contracts, competitors on the hunt for gates and junior pilots, and a workforce with many older and long embittered employees, that it may be a futile undertaking (pun intended). I suspect that if a turn-around was a reasonable hope, we would have heard rumors of a private equity consortium or an airline holding company nosing around. I wonder if AA's parts have more value than the whole.
Corporate greed plain and simple. Gross. I love the staff on American but they are right. Poor leadership (sadly a value in the US) is driving this company down. Our population is seeing loud and clear what poor corporate leadership does and do not hold these CEOs in high regard.
American is 20 years overdue for serious management change.
That's funny because just about everyone who flies AA would like to see the flight attendants change.
Nah, the crews on AA and their competitors are doing just fine; nearly all professionals who get the job done. You're just punching-down for whatever reason... oh, yeah, how Trumpian.
Not in agreement. I love the flight attendants that I have encountered 100%.
Sometimes it doesn't even matter whether one assigns blame correctly. If many things have been tried and didn't work, try something different. Or, if the people in charge refuse to try things and the results are bad, try someone different.
One thing for sure: airlines can turn around. Why hasn't American?
Since the merger with US Airways, service culture is gone. AA became just a basic carrier flying you in dull grey planes from point A to B. This might work for a little while, but clearly it's not working as US and DL have caught up quickly. As a loyal AA flyer (EXP since 2008), I can attest that the FA's on AA do a bare minimum job, which I am sure is instructed by...
Since the merger with US Airways, service culture is gone. AA became just a basic carrier flying you in dull grey planes from point A to B. This might work for a little while, but clearly it's not working as US and DL have caught up quickly. As a loyal AA flyer (EXP since 2008), I can attest that the FA's on AA do a bare minimum job, which I am sure is instructed by leadership. There is no recognition of their top tier members (like other OW carriers do), upgrades pretty much don't exist anymore (I booked a LHR - JFK flight yesterday; all 52 biz class seats open but I am on waitlist for a systemwide) and when you book biz class it's a gamble on what seat you might get (Concept D or Diamond). UA and DL clearly have done a much better job in maintaining their standards and surpass AA big time. Sad, but that's how I feel as a loyal AA flyer.
"Why didn't you just leave him, instead of staying and enduring the abuse"?
Running a solid operation takes investment and people resources. Not AI slob sold by Big Tech as the "savior." I should know, I live this every day in which companies are told they no longer need tech support but just pay for a link to an AI chatbot.
Management doesn't seem to want to spend the money because at least in the interim it would depress already inferior financial performance. So, they stick with stuff...
Running a solid operation takes investment and people resources. Not AI slob sold by Big Tech as the "savior." I should know, I live this every day in which companies are told they no longer need tech support but just pay for a link to an AI chatbot.
Management doesn't seem to want to spend the money because at least in the interim it would depress already inferior financial performance. So, they stick with stuff like a new brand of coffee or business class wine that they spend 50 cents more on a bottle for.
Well, Mr. Key, have you considered taking your business elsewhere? Make Tim's day?
@1990 I live in Miami. Do you know what Miami is like in the summer? Every single day 6-8 months out of the year the airport closes down because of thunderstorms. The only other domestic carrier at MIA (UA is next to nothing and I'm certainly not flying Frontier) is DL, which means other than a handful of direct flights it's a connection in ATL. Another place that has almost daily thunderstorms 6-8 months out...
@1990 I live in Miami. Do you know what Miami is like in the summer? Every single day 6-8 months out of the year the airport closes down because of thunderstorms. The only other domestic carrier at MIA (UA is next to nothing and I'm certainly not flying Frontier) is DL, which means other than a handful of direct flights it's a connection in ATL. Another place that has almost daily thunderstorms 6-8 months out of the year. So I'd want to f around with thunderstorms in MIA and then at ATL on a connection. No thanks, AA might be worse than DL but it's not worth turning a three hour flight into a two day ordeal in which to get there I might have to settle for a middle seat. But again, this is probably a bit beyond your understanding,
This is the result of AA not being disciplined during covid and needing to raise more money than other airlines. They took on a significant amount of debt that is being paid back aggressively. They forecast something like $1.5bn profit for 2026 which helps illustrate the fact that they’re digging themselves out of the hole they dug.
Who remembers during covid when AA was scheduling tons of flights when competitors weren’t? Here is the result of that.
Isom "may" be a good leader in the right situation, but his skills and the skills of his team are simply misaligned with what the company needs at this moment. Isom and team are failing to recognize they are in turnaround mode. They need to stop standing in front of the dumpster fire saying, "move along, nothing to see here, everything's fine."
“American’s workforce is not the problem. Leadership is.”
As someone who flies AA nearly weekly, I can strongly state that the workforce is 95% of the problem.
If they don’t share responsibility when things are bad, why should they share profit when things are good? They’re either part of the results or not.
If unions can organize to wear their dumb unsightly contract lanyards or picket, they could certainly organize to improve service...
“American’s workforce is not the problem. Leadership is.”
As someone who flies AA nearly weekly, I can strongly state that the workforce is 95% of the problem.
If they don’t share responsibility when things are bad, why should they share profit when things are good? They’re either part of the results or not.
If unions can organize to wear their dumb unsightly contract lanyards or picket, they could certainly organize to improve service which would lead to higher profit sharing without having a new “daddy” to rally them. Pointing fingers while your side of the street is filthy is quite something.
@ Sel, D. -- I certainly agree that American has a service culture issue, because service isn't as consistently good as it needs to be. However, I think we can all agree that just as American has some bad apples, it also has some really good apples.
Just a few weeks ago I wrote about my experience in Philadelphia, where I interacted with one of the worst and one of the best American employees...
@ Sel, D. -- I certainly agree that American has a service culture issue, because service isn't as consistently good as it needs to be. However, I think we can all agree that just as American has some bad apples, it also has some really good apples.
Just a few weeks ago I wrote about my experience in Philadelphia, where I interacted with one of the worst and one of the best American employees I've had in a long time, just minutes apart:
https://onemileatatime.com/insights/american-airlines-culture-problem/
So you can absolutely blame "the union" if you'd like (and I do think organized labor is important, but also causes some issues), but that's not really fair to the individual frontline employees. It's similar to blaming *all* Americans for the actions of the president (this isn't a political statement -- you can pick your president).
The point is that employees at a major company deserve their CEO (who is compensated eight figures) to do a good job setting the tone for where the company is headed, and what's expected of employees. For years, management just said "the schedule is the product," which doesn't exactly do much to motivate employees.
So if American management has a turnaround and suddenly sets a great vision, and employee morale and service doesn't improve, then I think your points are valid. But it's hard to blame employees while management continues to fail.
Agree with Sel that the workforce has an outsized chunk of responsibility here. As a weekly commuter in the MIA-LGA market, sure I only contribute $15-20k a year in flying revenue, but the absolute disdain for customers I encountered on AA was double or triple the amount of "good apples" and enough for me to question why I wasn't just dealing with Spirit out of FLL and getting the big front seat for around the...
Agree with Sel that the workforce has an outsized chunk of responsibility here. As a weekly commuter in the MIA-LGA market, sure I only contribute $15-20k a year in flying revenue, but the absolute disdain for customers I encountered on AA was double or triple the amount of "good apples" and enough for me to question why I wasn't just dealing with Spirit out of FLL and getting the big front seat for around the same price. I'm sacrificing what? watered down EXP benefits and the chance to use one or two leisure premium cabin SWU or miles redemptions each year that force me to connect through Heathrow. AA's hard product is fine (maybe the lack of tvs suck in economy but who cares). The CEO can only do so much, but there needs to be a shared culture shift (if you literally hate customers - READ - two guys in a cockpit IG -) and you can publicly bash the company you work for on social media and in front of customers, you're passion probably isn't hospitality and you need to move along.
Moreover, in many ways employees have become hand strung. It used to be you'd get exceptional service from Admirals Club staff but today that's rare. With the clubs now packed to the gills (and needless to say AA isn't alone) instead of 2-4 people to deal with there's 50 people trying to get an AC agent to help them. So instead of spending 10-15 minutes they're forced to give you the first option that appears...
Moreover, in many ways employees have become hand strung. It used to be you'd get exceptional service from Admirals Club staff but today that's rare. With the clubs now packed to the gills (and needless to say AA isn't alone) instead of 2-4 people to deal with there's 50 people trying to get an AC agent to help them. So instead of spending 10-15 minutes they're forced to give you the first option that appears on their screen and that's that because there's a line of people waiting.
I fly AA at least once a week and IME the breakdown is 70% of crew good to excellent, 20%-25% does the minimum or less and 5%-10% downright hostile.
It's a cop-out to blame the union or an individual worker who you or someone else has a scuffle with; the issues at AA are with management; they set the tone and direction. I applaud their attempts to finally 'pivot to premium,' but it'll take time. And, clearly, their relationship with Citi is not as lucrative as Delta's with Amex, unfortunately for AA.
@Lucky makes sense, I guess the whole thing stinks. Blaming just the coach when the players are also unremarkable isn’t quite fair though. It’s not like leadership can just go hire a bunch of better employees.
My bigger fear is the economic pressures will finally lead to the best thing they have being diminished - the loyalty program. If that gets aligned with UA, I’d probably stick around, but if aligned with DL I’d switch teams asap.
@Ben isn't that the problem...inconsistency. You can go from having the best experience with an airline employee right to the worst experience on the same flight. If AA wants to be premium they need to sweat the details, and the biggest detail is consistency.
One thing I know when I fly Spirit is I consistently get the same experience from the FAs...and I've adapted to that. But, AA claims they are something they are...
@Ben isn't that the problem...inconsistency. You can go from having the best experience with an airline employee right to the worst experience on the same flight. If AA wants to be premium they need to sweat the details, and the biggest detail is consistency.
One thing I know when I fly Spirit is I consistently get the same experience from the FAs...and I've adapted to that. But, AA claims they are something they are not. The in-flight premium experience is all about the crew and how they leverage the resources they have in front of them. Does management set the tone? Yes. But, each employee chooses how they will engage passengers. A lot of us work in dysfunctional environments. Professionals rise above it. Children use it as an excuse to do as little as they can.
The employees are not victims, they have agency to find another job. Maybe if enough employees leave in frustration AA will get the hint.
You know who has more agency than the employees? The leadership? The responsibility goes to the top, that's why they're supposedly paid the big bucks.
Moral is and has been atrocious and as a 20+ year former employee, I agree with your response wholeheartedly. The employees may be at fault for bad customer facing service but the fix for this and ALL the other problems (strategy, PR, branding, customer experience, etc) lies with upper management, not the guy/girl loading your bag or serving you the "convenience store level" first class meal. As management I only ever recall our strategy only...
Moral is and has been atrocious and as a 20+ year former employee, I agree with your response wholeheartedly. The employees may be at fault for bad customer facing service but the fix for this and ALL the other problems (strategy, PR, branding, customer experience, etc) lies with upper management, not the guy/girl loading your bag or serving you the "convenience store level" first class meal. As management I only ever recall our strategy only ever being "what are the other guys doing?" and never ever recall taking the lead. And yes, it only exacerbated the problem ten fold when the Tempe guys took over with only the one belief that became the focus, goal, target, mantra, and seemingly spiritual experience that only efficiency = profitability; customer loyalty, employee loyalty, partnerships, service, true leadership, vision, hard product be damned.
Is that the same union that took Parker’s bait to oust Horton and make the AWE takeover possible?
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