It seems that there’s a recent shift among American Airlines management, whereby the company is very publicly praising President Trump. Let me be clear, this post isn’t at all intended to be political, as you could replace Trump with Biden, for all I care.
The reason I’m writing about this is because I’m curious what the real motive is here. After all, airline executives tend to try to further their own interests, and I have to imagine there’s an angle here. The question is… what is it?!
American CEO Robert Isom praises Trump, and more
View from the Wing accurately points out how American management seems rather flattering toward President Trump in recent times. Let me again emphasize that this isn’t intended to be political. On the surface, it’s not unusual to see executives of publicly traded companies sucking up to whoever is in power, since it’s in their best interest. However:
- It seems like American executives have become more positively outspoken about Trump in recent months, compared to the first 12-16 months of his second term
- Say what you will about the merits of the war with Iran, but there’s no denying it has had a horrible impact on airlines in terms of their increased fuel bill, and there’s no sign of that coming to an end
- I’m not in any way suggesting American’s failures are Trump’s fault, but American’s financial situation has only worsened during the second Trump term, so it’s hard to argue that the airline is benefiting much from whatever is going on
- President Trump’s approval rating is at an all-time low, so it’s not like praising him is great for public optics
A few weeks ago, Isom was at the White House, and had the following to say:
“From a commercial aviation perspective, the eyes of the world have been on us, and we’ve certainly delivered. Records at American, but records for the industry, in terms of transportation, and it’s broad based, every aspect, and no doubt it’s a result of the economy and also the job market.
So as we get into the summer, I want to give a shout out to Secretary Duffy. You’ve absolutely chosen the best person possible. With these record levels of traffic, we’ve had to do some things different. And the investments that we’re making in infrastructure, the hiring that we’ve done, and especially this modernization work that we’re doing is leading to great results. Now, as we finish out the summer, we have a busy Labor Day weekend. We’re going to hit all kinds of records this weekend. The only thing I could ask a little bit of help with is, can you help me with the weather a little bit?”
Dude, you’re paying $7 billion extra for fuel, and the only thing you could ask for “a little bit of help with” is… weather?
Trump responded by saying “we like American,” and then continued by touting how everything he’s doing is something that has never happened before, and it’s just not being covered properly.
Heck, what really pushed me over the edge in terms of writing about this is that American just announced its new automatic seat feature in the app, and the screenshot the airline chose for showcasing this is… DJT?! Are we being trolled, or what is going on here?
I don’t want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but of the hundreds of airports the airline could’ve chosen for this, it selected DJT? Is that truly a coincidence, or what’s the logical explanation? Admittedly this is subtle — I doubt Trump is browsing American’s press releases — but still.
What’s American’s ulterior motive with Trump praise?
Airline executives sucking up to Trump is nothing new. United CEO Scott Kirby is obviously the clearest example of that. He has had nothing but good things to say about Trump and his policies, United contributed to Trump’s inauguration fund, and even contributed to Sean Duffy’s reality TV show.
Kirby is a super strategic guy, and he obviously had a motive with this, especially since Trump tends to be a guy who likes those who likes him, and hates those who don’t like him. At first we thought the goal was to get regulatory approval for a United takeover of JetBlue.
Then later it became clear the goal was even bigger, which was to have United take over either American or Delta, and form a “flag carrier” for the US. That was rejected by both airlines, and even with the extent to which Kirby has sucked up to Trump, that still strikes me as unlikely.
But what’s American’s motive here? I mean, I sort of respect how American management historically isn’t big into BS, and perhaps that largely just reflects a lack of strategy. But what changed that is suddenly causing American executives to sing the praises of Trump?
I guess one possible explanation is “oh, it’s just typical sucking up to the president.” I suppose that’s possible, but the timing is what doesn’t make sense to me. This seems like a new thing. So what are the other possible explanations?
For one, we know American is planning a wide body aircraft order, and it’s entirely possible the airline orders Airbus wide body jets. We know Trump has his “America first” agenda, and ordering foreign planes doesn’t really fit into that. At the same time, I struggle to see what leverage Trump would have over the airline. I mean, Delta is primarily taking delivery of new Airbus planes.
The other possible explanation would be something really big, as I see it. As I’ve said many times before, I think the single biggest strategic merger we could see in the United States would be between Alaska and American, given how complementary they are. That’s probably a topic for another post, but if you want something like that to get approval, you’d certainly need to be on the administration’s good side.
Bottom line
In recent times, American CEO Robert Isom has had some very nice things to say about and to Trump. Hell, even including “DJT” as the airport code in a random press release about an app feature is pretty noteworthy.
While it’s common for airline executives to cozy up to whatever administration is in power, we’ve seen more of it under Trump than under previous administrations. Admittedly that might just reflect the “relationship based” approach that Trump takes to conducting “business.” But I also can’t help but wonder if there isn’t a little more to all of this, as there has been a shift.
Is American plotting something that it thinks will either anger the administration or that requires regulatory approval, or what’s going on here?
What do you think American’s motive is for its increasing praise of Trump?
Would be a fun topic for the OMAAT-VFTW-LALF podcast! :-)
So... if American gets Alaska, and United gets JetBlue, who does Delta get... Sun Country? Now that would be a premium merger!
Peter gets it! Ben, Gary, and Matthew! Do it!
That would follow the age-old strategy - if all else fails at making your business successful, distract shareholders with a big acquisition that both absorbs all focus for the next couple years (allowing you to avoid having a strong strategy - because the strategy is 'complete the integration') and allows you to explain away your poor financial performance as temporary integration-based issues :D
Everyone sucks up to the current politicians...its just how business gets done....or favored.
People will cash in their values and beliefs for cold hard cash and power!
FIFA made up a stupid Peace Prize so the toddler could get a trophy. They are putting his name on coins, the Kennedy Center, an airport, children investment accounts, our passport, and there is a giant banner of the Dear Leader in front of OUR justice department. Let's not 'both sides' this thing please, cause it isn't normal.
Some (CEOs) are worse than others, but none of them seem great at the moment.
Look at how Costco is handling its tariff refunds (actually returning value to customers), as opposed to other companies (that are just pocketing the excess profits.)
You are simply describing the current US political system.
The kakistocracy that is the US government. Now Mango Mussolini wants to ban diesel exports. Started a war. Straits of Hormuz closed. A dictator who wants his name on everything.
Alaska.....that's why.
Looking for a taxpayer-funded bailout.
Because of the US political system. America is an epic failure. And a debt default is looming.
The fuel and gas charges went up with Biden also along with all groceries and thanks to Obummer care all healthcare premiums went up and never went down
ROFLMAO... Yeah, and Abe Lincoln single-handedly started the Civil War, and while we're at it, did you know that Elon Musk and George Soros are the same person? Well, I mean, have you ever seen the two of them together at the same time? Think about it...
Thats why the GLIC is going to rename the San Andreas Fault to Bidens fault
Biden isn't president. Obama left office 10 years ago. Republicans have controlled both chambers of Congress and the presidency for the past 2 years. I hope you're not using the same excuse at work when your work product stinks. "The prior guy who had my job sucked" will fly the first week. After that it's you the one who sucks.
Make AMERICAN Great Again ? (MAGA ?)
I believe that AA would love nothing more than a merger with Alaska. Because that worked so well with AirCal and Reno Air,,,,,,, but yes, Isom and the Ft Worth folks are sucking up to the orange one "biggly" to get as many considerations fron the trump regime as possible.
Although we are usually loyal to Delta we just booked a great deal on a flight with American miles so I dont want to say anything bad about American airlines and their admiration of the Greedy Lying Ignorant Conman that is, once again, Our National Disgrace
I think an AA and JetBlue merger could also be in the deck of cards, and personally I think it is more likely to get approved. I highly doubt Alaska loyalists would be happy to see the airline get gobbled up by AA, so that will likely have pushback on the west coast.
If B6 and AA were to merge, then B6's FLL hub would likely need to be heavily reduced to allow for competition in South FL, and I could see UA swooping in and making FLL a hub.
Ah....but what if AS gobbled up AA?!?!?! LOL
There is a reason why all my miles/points go to Alaska rather than American, just as there was a reason I switched, years ago, from Southwest to Virgin America. I agree, there would be A LOT of pushback from Alaska loyalists...whether it would do any good to push back is another question entirely.
Yes, all of this.
Apropos of nothing, fake Christian and fake “secretary of transportation” Sean Duffy was at National Airport today babbling on at some press conference. Mr. Isom wasn’t there.
The awesome part is when Senator Sheldon Whitehouse stopped next to me to ask the security cop some question about something or other. He then turned to me, asked me if I was single, and kissed me, gently, on the mouth, saying “You should never have to work...
Apropos of nothing, fake Christian and fake “secretary of transportation” Sean Duffy was at National Airport today babbling on at some press conference. Mr. Isom wasn’t there.
The awesome part is when Senator Sheldon Whitehouse stopped next to me to ask the security cop some question about something or other. He then turned to me, asked me if I was single, and kissed me, gently, on the mouth, saying “You should never have to work another day in your life, TravelinWilly. Let my riches and I take you away from all the chaos that is Washington DC. I love you,” after which he swept me up and carried me out of the airport just like in “Officer and a Gentleman.” Sheldon is very strong for 70.
The part about asking the Security cop a question is true. I may have embellished the rest or just made it up. I’ll never tell.
No you can’t replace Trump with Biden. If Biden were president this article would never exist. You can be as apolitical as you want but don’t be stupid. They are kissing the ring of a dictator. Let’s stop pretending otherwise.
As someone who has lived in an actual Eastern European dictatorship, I would like to inform you that you devalue the weight and horror of the term every time you apply it to the USA in any capacity. While I disagree with most of what Trump has done as president so far, it's a country mile away from anything even resembling dictatorship.
He has the military behind him and he’s stealing from the treasury and other nation assets to enrich himself. Smell and walk and looks like a duck. A Donald Chump duck.
VladG, in other recent OMAAT comment sections you were literally promoting Putin’s talking-points… so, I’m gonna take your reply here with a grain of salt, and add a ‘Helpful’ to Brian H instead. I recommend others do the same.
probably just is the likely airbus order.
But AS has said they didn't want to merge with AA so AA could be buttering the administration up for one application for AA & AS to have a domestic codeshare that simultaneously allows AS into the QF, JL, and IAG/AY JVs. That would require DOT & DOJ to work together and would likely be asking a lot. But it would make the most sense to me since...
probably just is the likely airbus order.
But AS has said they didn't want to merge with AA so AA could be buttering the administration up for one application for AA & AS to have a domestic codeshare that simultaneously allows AS into the QF, JL, and IAG/AY JVs. That would require DOT & DOJ to work together and would likely be asking a lot. But it would make the most sense to me since it would be a lot easier to add AS to everything all at once vs domestic JV then the international JVs and that would be a lot of coordination
If they don't suck up to him, he just might change their name to American America.
Showing a flight from Sioux City to West Palm Beach in the app screenshot would have made it too obvious?
All large corporations suck up to politicians. AA would suck up to AOC or Bernie Sanders if there was something in it for them. And that is why politicians have become so useless. AA and many other corporations would be sucking up to a President Harris and getting generally whatever they wanted.
But they’re not sucking up to Kamala Harris or Bernie Sanders or Ocasio Cortez.
They’re sucking up to your fat orange Nazi.
I work for a business in whose leadership has heavily lobbied the current occupant of the WH to try to mitigate the potential impacts of his policies because those impacts could be quite catastrophic. One should assume any leader is either kissing up to steer business their way or mitigating negative impacts. I doubt anyone singing the praises of the current occupant is doing so because they genuinely believe what they are saying. This is...
I work for a business in whose leadership has heavily lobbied the current occupant of the WH to try to mitigate the potential impacts of his policies because those impacts could be quite catastrophic. One should assume any leader is either kissing up to steer business their way or mitigating negative impacts. I doubt anyone singing the praises of the current occupant is doing so because they genuinely believe what they are saying. This is probably always true but obviously true now.
Sucking up to a tyrant, for whatever "motivation", is a clear sign of character. Or lack of it...