The union representing American Airlines flight attendants plans to hold a picket outside the company’s headquarters today, advocating for new leadership.
The strike comes as the airline’s performance has trailed its rivals, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, in profitability and punctuality by a wide margin, a trend that has translated into lower profit-sharing for American’s 130,000 employees.
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom responded via a video message to disgruntled employees, stating:
“Given all that’s going on with our airline right now, I wanted to share more about where we’re heading in 2026. Last year was a tough year, no doubt about it. And I know some of you are still recovering from the winter storms just a couple of weeks ago.
As we look forward to 2026, it’s with a lot of excitement and confidence. I know we’re going to do better financially and operationally. We have a plan to be solidly profitable this year, which will mean good things for our customers, our shareholders, and all of you, especially in regard to future profit sharing to go along with our industry-leading contracts. We will reclaim American’s reputation as the world’s premium global airline. And we shared how we’ll do that with our 6,000 frontline leaders last week at our Journey Leadership Conference.
It’s a strategy that our board is behind, and our senior leadership team is committed to and accountable for. And we look forward to working with all of you to make it happen. Thanks to your efforts, we’ve laid the foundation for all of this over the last few years. And in 2026, these efforts will produce meaningful results.”
On Monday, The Association of Professional Flight Attendants issued a vote of no confidence against Isom, stating:
“From abysmal profits earned to operational failures that have front-line Workers sleeping on floors, this airline must course-correct before it falls even further behind,” APFA President Julie Hedrick said in a news release. “This level of failure begins at the very top, with CEO Robert Isom.”
The APFA strike today seeks accountability, improved operational support, and leadership change at the company.
Isom has served as CEO since March 2022.
By CEO NA Editorial Staff
