Pressure is mounting on American Airlines’ CEO as the carrier falls behind its competitors

American AirlinesThe promised transformation has gotten off to a rocky start this year.

Pilot and flight attendant unions have called into question CEO Robert Isom’s leadership, as the airline’s performance has lagged behind its competitors by a significant margin, a trend that has translated into reduced profit sharing for more than 130,000 U.S. employees. Adding to the frustration of employees, the airline has struggled to recover from major winter storms in recent weeks, and crew members have been stranded — some without a place to sleep beside the airport.

Late on Friday, the pilots’ union wrote to the airline’s board of directors, requesting a meeting to discuss the financial and operational challenges facing the airline.

“Our airline is on a path of underperformance and has failed to establish an identity or strategy to correct course,” the Allied Pilots Association board of directors wrote. The union called for “leaders willing, equipped and empowered to put the house in order.”

America made $111 million last year, an amount eclipsed by profits from… Delta Airlines and United Airlineswhich brought in $5 billion and more than $3.3 billion respectively, even though American planes flew at a similar capacity in 2025.

“I know this is a lean profit sharing, and it’s 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 earnings results were released on Jan. 27, according to a recording of the event reviewed by CNBC. “I’m disappointed in that.”

American is trying to catch up with competitors with premium products that fetch higher prices, a bright spot in an industry where bus cabin revenue growth has been elusive. It also worked to reverse the damage caused by the failed direct-to-traveler business travel strategy, the architect of which was ousted by American in May 2024.

2026 is crucial for the carrier.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based airline issued an upbeat forecast for the year on Jan. 27, and Isom told crews he was optimistic about improvement this year. He also noted that many employees, such as flight attendants, earn more than their counterparts at United, where cabin crew and other employees are in contract negotiations.

Isom is leading what he describes as a major transformation in America. The strategy includes improving customer service, network and revenue management.

He took his message this week to about 6,000 leaders at a conference the airline held at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

“We had conversations as a senior leadership team about how we can’t miss any opportunity… and how we need to hold ourselves accountable,” Isom said at the event, according to a transcript seen by CNBC. “It starts with us at the top, but we’re all here today and how you lead your teams. 2026 can’t just be different, it has to be different.”

American issued its 2026 outlook as it navigated the aftermath of a late January winter storm that drenched much of the United States in snow, ice and sleet, and braced for another storm that ended up battering its headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, while rivals dug in faster.

The financial results, coupled with the storm’s slow recovery, have angered union leaders of pilots and flight attendants, who together represent about 40,000 crew members.

This week, two US Airways flight operations leaders met with the union and discussed recent problems, with the union telling members that “our pilots will no longer accept the platitudes, empty words and lack of decisive action.”

Association of Professional Flight Attendants President Julie Hedrick said on January 27 that Isom, who became CEO in 2022, “misses the human factor” and that “many of us have been here too long, and we don’t see an end that puts us in a better place.”

Isom acknowledged the trouble American cabin crew faced during the late January storm that paralyzed a large swath of the United States, and described the weather as “probably the most impactful” of his decades-long tenure at the airline.

Americans had a particularly difficult year in 2025, which began with the collision of an Army Black Hawk helicopter with one of the carrier’s regional jets arriving at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., killing all 67 people on both flights. The airline and its competitors were also hit by the US government shutdown late last year.

“We’re off to a fast start based on the booking trends we observed in January, which are all-time records for the first three weeks of the year,” Isom told analysts on a Jan. 27 earnings call.

But investors also want the airline to demonstrate its progress.

US stocks are roughly flat this year. Its rival is 20 miles away in Dallas, Southwest Airlinesis also trying to reshape itself, and its stock will rise more than 30% in 2026. Shares of United and Delta are up more than 3% and more than 8%, respectively, for the year.

Southwest’s expectations that it could quadruple its profits this year have sent investors into a bullish frenzy. The carrier recently wrapped up its biggest makeover in nearly 55 years of flying (much to the dismay of some travelers): assigning seats last month for the first time, adding its first-ever bag fees, rolling out basic economy tickets and other changes. Investor confidence boosted Southwest shares to their highest level in nearly four years last month after it reported its results.

All U.S. airlines are investing heavily in upscale travel via standard coach, and even Southwest is considering opening its first airport lounge, its CEO told CNBC last year.

Likewise, American Airbus is renovating its widebody aircraft with larger business class cabins, adding a three-class cabin on new narrowbody Airbus aircraft, and expanding its airport lounges. The airline has also updated its food and beverage options, including introducing Lavazza coffee and Bollinger champagne. On its 100th anniversary this spring, it will also add caviar and beef Wellington to its luxury long-haul cabins.

Isom said he expects half of U.S. revenues to come from “premium offerings” at the end of the decade.

One of the major battles fought by the Americans was at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, where united CEO Scott Kirby, who was fired by American in 2016, has vowed to keep his old employer at bay.

Both companies are ramping up their schedules there next summer. Deutsche Bank estimated in a note Monday that United generates about $10 billion in revenue at O’Hare and American generates more than $5 billion.

Around the time American reported its earnings, United posted a digital billboard in Chicago that read, “More on time, fewer canceled flights. Aadvantage, United,” using the same spelling as American’s AAdvantage loyalty program. Bankrupt Spirit Airlines is also seeking to transfer two gates at Chicago O’Hare to United for $30 million, which would give United more land at the airport.

But from Chicago to Charlotte, questions remain for Americans.

“It is unclear whether the current strategy will close the margin gap with its peers,” Conor Cunningham, an airline analyst at Melius Research, said of American. “It will take a lot of time to implement. You can’t just run premium revenue.”

“It has taken more than a decade for Delta to establish a distinct image,” Cunningham added, referring to the shift in US earnings leaders.