American Airlines CEO lays out vision to close $3 billion profit gap
Robert Isom, chief executive officer of American Airlines Group Inc., speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview in New York, US, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025.
Christian Monterrosa | Bloomberg | Getty Images
FORT WORTH, Texas — American Airlines CEO Robert Isom has a math problem.
The carrier is flying about 6,500 flights per day this year — nearly an entire Alaska Airlines more worth of travel more than its closest competitor, according to Cirium — yet American’s profit gap has grown. United Airlines brought in about $3 billion more than American last year, and U.S. profit leader Delta Air Lines made nearly $5 billion more.
In an exclusive interview with CNBC late last month, Isom said American and its nearly 140,000 employees want “to be best at everything that we do.” He said that carrier’s “long-range plan is certainly making up the margin gap,” but he didn’t put a timeline on that goal.
American’s top executives at the carrier’s headquarters late last month outlined new initiatives to CNBC: bigger, more luxe airport lounges, a new wide-body aircraft order, and fresh interiors for even more of its long-haul fleet to attract big spenders.
Isom described the carrier’s identity as “a premium global airline with the largest footprint in North America.”
American has more decisions it needs to make — and soon — to close the gap. Perhaps its biggest challenge is getting customers to shell out more to fly, something Delta and United zeroed in on years ago.
American has mastered running an efficient business but “what we will measure over time is: Are we closing this revenue gap and closing the unit revenue gap?” American CFO Devon May said.
Cabins, planes and lounges
The carrier’s executives reiterated that American’s plan rests on growing its ever-more important loyalty program, improving customers’ experience, expanding its network and increasing higher-end revenue.
The airline is forecast to earn 64 cents a share this year, on an adjusted basis, which would be up almost 80% from last year, according to analyst estimates. It will give an updated forecast when it reports second-quarter results on Thursday.
United and Delta earlier this month reported bookings are still strong. The surge in fuel prices have both helped and hurt the industry this year: The sudden run-up in prices because of the Iran war took carriers off guard, though they’re passing more of those costs along to travelers, and executives don’t expect fares will drop much anytime soon.
Wall Street is optimistic American will continue to improve, expecting it to quadruple adjusted earnings in 2027 to $2.58 a share.
American is now remodeling cabins across the fleet and taking deliveries of new planes with interiors that feature new amenities and more premium seats. Executives have said they’re considering but haven’t decided on bringing back seatback screens to much of its narrow-body fleet, though American recently joined the ranks of airlines that are adding satellite Wi-Fi from…
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