American Airlines lagged behind in luxury travel, behind Delta and United

Fort Worth, Texas — American Airlines It began pouring Champagne Bollinger for customers in its first-class lounges and cabins this fall. But at headquarters, it’s not time to celebrate yet.

America has fallen behind major competitors Delta Airlines and United Airlines In the post-Covid luxury travel boom, which has taken spa vacations in Seoul and 40th birthday parties abroad out of the chat and armed millions of consumers with high-end rewards credit cards.

In the first nine months of this year, Delta generated $3.8 billion and United generated $2.3 billion. American made $12 million This means that American Airlines, which offers more flights than any other airline, according to OAG, has captured just 2% of the profits made by the three largest US airlines so far in 2025.

American ranked dead last in J.D. Power’s North American airline customer satisfaction rankings this year. The carrier is also working to undo the damage caused by a failed business travel sales strategy.

American Airlines, which described itself as a “punctuality machine” in the 1980s, in the first half of this year ranked ninth out of 10 airlines in arriving on time, according to the Department of Transportation.

The airline is trying to change all that and elevate its brand after strategic missteps, some inconsistency on spending, and sometimes a delay in capitalizing on industry trends, such as travelers’ willingness to pay to sit in larger seats, according to current and former executives and industry observers.

To achieve this, CEO Robert Isom will have to rally more than 130,000 US employees around the airline’s plans and win over customers and investors. US stocks were down 20% this year through Friday’s close, compared with modest gains by Delta and United.

But last week, some investors noticed a change within the United States, whose fourth-quarter earnings forecasts exceeded those of Wall Street analysts. Shares rose more than 16%, the largest weekly percentage gain in nearly a year.

“You’re going to have a three-month period where you have to be absolutely clear on your story,” said Conor Cunningham, an aviation analyst at Milius Research, referring to the airline’s leaders.

Bigger changes will take time and money.

“America has not cared about the customer for a long time,” said Henry Harteveldt, founder of travel consulting firm Atmosphere Research Group. “I think there is the beginning of a tangible transformation…but a large airline like American is not going to change overnight.”

American has tapped Heather Garboden — who worked for more than two decades at American Airlines and US Airways, including roles in the cargo and finance departments, and is now chief customer officer — to lead much of the sweeping revamp of the nearly century-old airline.

“Fifteen years ago, I don’t think in the industry, there was much belief that customer experience… really differentiated airlines. I think everyone felt it was about price and schedule, and that’s it,” she said in an interview. “That has changed, and we understand that.”

American lagged behind in retail pricing and technology compared to larger American competitors. At Delta, the most profitable U.S. airline, its executives noticed early on how customers were paying for the more expensive first-class seats, the prized real estate that the company and other airlines used to offer frequent flyers as a free upgrade. Now, offer buyouts are becoming more popular among the three, and American Airlines is looking for more ways to sell those seats and make sure its planes have enough of them to offer.

One challenge for American was that it was the last of the Big Three airlines to complete a massive merger in 2013 when it merged with American Airlines, while Delta and United had a long head start in going through their integration processes and improving their products.

Garboden has spent much of her career in finance departments, and she said it’s difficult to provide that team with the return on investment for something like Champagne, but it’s still important.

“Customer experience, it’s not just about champagne. It’s not just a pretty seat. It’s not just having the best lounge,” she said. “It’s the comprehensive view of it, from end to end, [how] We want to feel.”

American expects its total capital spending, including new aircraft, to reach $3.8 billion this year and rise to about $4.5 billion next year, the carrier said Thursday. It said its total debt amounts to about $37 billion, and it plans to reduce that by at least $2 billion before 2028.

One example of how things have changed: American’s management team decided nearly a decade ago to remove seatback screens from its planes, saving money on equipment (and the fuel-sucking weight it adds to the plane) because at the time, they said, customers were more likely to use their cell phones, tablets, or laptops to watch entertainment.

United, which has some of its senior leadership team, including CEO Scott Kirby, come from the United States, has done the opposite and is now adding thousands of screens to new and old narrow-body planes, including Bluetooth technology for wireless headsets.

Maybe America will change its tune. “I think about where technology was a decade ago, and where it could be today, or even a few years from today,” Garboden said. “Hopefully the complexity will be less.”

American is improving its website and app, with features like a way to toggle between paying for tickets with cash or miles, Garboden said, among other revamps that executives hope will lead to increased sales — and paid upgrades. She added that another goal is to use artificial intelligence and allow customers to search for holiday topics, such as “best wine tasting in spring,” instead of searching for flights between cities.

American is also in the middle of a push to modernize many of its long-haul luxury cabins, and announced Thursday that it will renovate its planes. Boeing A new 777-200 with Business Class, adding to the upgrade, first unveiled three years ago, to the larger Boeing 777-300.

“This is a big deal for us because extending the life of these and putting them in service actually gives us a break in capital spending in terms of fleet replacement,” Isom said on an earnings call with analysts Thursday. “So it’s a win-win for our customers, our company, and certainly our investors.”

Those plans are made years in advance, and high demand, supply chain issues and long wait times for certification have delayed luxury cabins, angering airline executives.

On Thursday, the first U.S. Airbus A321 On all three aircraft types, first class will be dropped in favor of the larger business class. For flights over the Atlantic, it can cost $600 in the back and more than $6,000 in advance.

The new suites, which feature sliding doors, larger screens and a range of tan, navy blue and dark brown colors, began flying this year on some American Boeing 787 Dreamliners, subgroup P, for “premium.”

Meanwhile, the union representing American flight attendants is pressing the carrier to add more crew members on board to meet the needs of larger business class cabins.

“Flight your aircraft the way a global airline should — and deliver a competitive onboard experience in every cabin,” the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, the carrier’s pilots and unions, said in a letter Friday sent to employees but directed at the carrier, taking aim at the airline’s poor performance compared to competitors.

American’s updates have even made it rethink drinks throughout the plane. The airline recently signed a coffee supply contract with Italian company Lavazza, and to test the beverage, it brought plane water to its headquarters in Fort Worth so employees could evaluate its taste on board. Lavazza made the cut.

The airline on Thursday appointed Nat Pepper as chief commercial officer, a nearly three-decade veteran of the airline who has worked in… Alaska Airlines and Delta, whom Isom described as “exactly the kind of leader we want in America.” American fired its former CEO, Vasu Raja, last year after his business travel strategy backfired and angered travel agencies.

There are signs of progress.

“Coming out of this year, we expect to fully recover the revenue share that was lost due to our previous sales and distribution strategy,” Isom said Thursday.

American also just signed a new credit card deal with them City It said last week it would introduce a new mid-level card with an annual fee of $350.

American Airlines has been an industry leader for decades. It was the first to launch the frequent flyer program AAdvantage. Loyalty programs, which make money largely from selling frequent flyer miles to banks, have become the lifeblood of many airlines.

This year the airline announced new measures to improve reliability. One change: five extra minutes of boarding time. A US spokeswoman said this helps avoid bottlenecks and last-minute checked bags at the gate, which she said has decreased by 25% since May 1.

Some of the challenges America faces are fairly recent. A federal judge in 2023 blocked US territorial association with JetBlue AirlinesThat left it without a partner in affluent major markets like Boston and New York, where United and Delta had successes.

United this year secured a partnership with JetBlue that allows customers to earn and burn miles on other airlines, but stops short of coordinating schedules or routes. It went into effect Thursday, as American was reporting third-quarter results.

America dominates its strongholds in Dallas and Charlotte, North Carolina, which are profitable operations, although in decline in the Northeast. Other companies have looked to the Sun Belt for growth as the population there grows.

United and Delta executives have attributed some of their success to having a lot of flights in large coastal hubs with affluent travelers, although United has also built flights in major markets such as Denver, Houston and Chicago.

While American has been reluctant to make major investments, United CEO Kirby earlier this month told investors that the airline invests more than $1 billion annually to improve the customer experience.

United recently began flying planes with free Wi-Fi provided by SpaceX’s Starlink subsidiary, following Delta and JetBlue in making the service free. American plans to roll out free Wi-Fi next year to most of its fleet.

United said such investments take years.

“We’ve built generational progress on this front,” Andrew Nocella, United’s chief commercial officer, said in an interview, adding that new products will be coming in the next few years. (He declined to provide details.) “We believe this is fundamental, and I don’t want to give up an inch on that foundation, no matter what our competitors do to innovate over the next decade.”

However, some customers continue to appreciate the convenience that American provides, and remain loyal.

Todd Bryan, 41, a platinum-rated executive on American, said he chose the carrier largely because it had the most frequencies outside of where he lives, in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The 41-year-old sales account manager who works in the consumer packaged goods industry said he got an upgrade on most of his trips, but noticed that American was more aggressive in offering purchases with cash or miles.

Although he would normally be at the top of the list, he is now considering accepting the offer rather than gamble on a free personal flight upgrade if it “seems cheap enough that I assume someone else will buy it too.”