In this articleUALFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTA snow removal machine is seen working while a Boeing 737 American Airlines passenger aircraft is parked at gate on the tarmac of LaGuardia airport in New York on January 25, 2026. Charly Triballeau | Afp | Getty ImagesAmerican Airlines’ promised turnaround is off to a rocky start this year.Pilot and flight attendant unions have called CEO Robert Isom’s leadership into question as the airline’s performance has trailed its rivals by a wide margin, a trend that has translated to lower profit-sharing for American’s more than 130,000 employees. Adding to employee frustration, the airline struggled to recover from major winter storms in recent weeks and crews were left stranded — some without a place to sleep beside the airport.Late Friday, the pilots’ union wrote to the airline’s board, seeking a meeting to discuss the carrier’s financial and operational challenges.”Our airline is on an underperforming path and has failed to define an identity or a strategy to correct course,” the board of directors of the Allied Pilots Association wrote. The union called for “leaders who are willing, equipped, and empowered to get the house in order.”American made $111 million last year, an amount eclipsed by profits from Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, which brought in $5 billion and more than $3.3 billion, respectively, even though American flew similar capacity in 2025.[embedded content]”I know that it is a meager profit-sharing, a very small profit-sharing pool this year. Again, when you break even, that’s the kind of profit-sharing you have,” Isom told employees after releasing earnings results on Jan. 27, according to a recording of the event that was reviewed by CNBC. “I’m disappointed in that.”‘2026 can’t just feel different’American is trying to catch up to rivals with premium products that bring in higher fares, a bright spot in the industry as coach cabin revenue growth has been elusive. It has also worked to reverse the damage from a failed direct-to-traveler business-travel strategy, whose architect American ousted in May 2024. 2026 is crucial for the carrier. The Fort Worth, Texas-based airline issued an upbeat outlook for the year on Jan. 27, and Isom told crews that he was optimistic about improvement this year. He also noted that many staff, like flight attendants, make more than their counterparts at United, where cabin crews and other employees are in contract negotiations.Isom is leading what he has pitched as a major transformation of American. The strategy includes improving customer service, the network and revenue management.This week, he took his message to about 6,000 leaders at a conference the airline held at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.”We’ve had conversations as a senior leadership team about how we can’t pass up any opportunity … how we need to hold ourselves accountable,” Isom said at the event, according to a transcript which was seen by CNBC. “It starts with us at the top, but it’s all of us here today and how you lead your teams. 2026 can’t just feel different. It has to be different.”American issued its 2026 outlook as it was juggling the aftermath of a late January winter storm that walloped much of the U.S. with snow, ice and sleet and preparing for another storm that ended up hitting its major hub of Charlotte, North Carolina, while competitors dug out faster.The financia …
