American Airlines CEO Robert Isom looks on during a meeting with President Donald Trump and travel industry executives at the White House in September. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski)
AFP via Getty Images
Improvements are coming rapidly at American Airlines, but the carrier’s pilots say that CEO Robert Isom might not be making them quickly enough to continue to have their support.
“It’s just the question of is there somebody out there who can turn the ship around faster? “Nick Silva, president of the Allied Pilots Association, said in an interview with The Dallas Morning News. “We have hope that there’s somebody out there who sees the potential here, who sees what we see, and is able to come in.
“If that’s Robert, great,” Silva told the newspaper. “But if it’s not, somebody is able to come in and turn this into a place that we’re proud that we’re proud to work at again. Because that’s not what we have right now, I can categorically say that.”
In February, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents American’s 30,000 flight attendants, called on Isom to step down in a no confidence vote. A week later, the pilots’ union considered a similar move but then stepped back.
“We have the last couple of years put pressure on our management team,” APFA President Julie Hedrick said Wednesday in an interview. “Earlier this year our union made our position very clear to this management team. We’re going to keep working at it.
“From our union’s perspective, in February when we did the vote of no confidence, we had good reason to do that at the time,” Hedrick said. “We’ve been putting pressure on the management team to make some really important changes for the employees at American Airlines.
“APFA and AFA are working together,” she said.
The Morning News story was posted Wednesday, shortly before Isom spoke to an investor conference. There, he spoke optimistically about the carrier’s ongoing rapid implementation of passenger service improvements including Starlink wi-fi, seatback screens, new lounges and more premium seating.
“From an American perspective, premium global airline, we’re doing all the right things to make sure that we reinforce that purpose,” Isom said. “And the story line for us is we’re the airline with the greatest potential. It really is because of the opportunities we have ahead of us from a revenue perspective.”
Besides the customer improvements, Isom said, the carrier has been rebuilding its network. “This is the first year we’ve been able to really put all the pieces together. He cited improvements at most existing hubs and noted that at Los Angeles, where a new terminal is under construction, “As we move into 2028 we’ll regain the ability to have the largest footprint of anybody.”
Also, he said, the credit card agreement with Citibank will produce $8 billion in cash remuneration this year, on its way to $10 billion. However, he said oil price increases will cost American about $1 billion in the third quarter.
American shares closed Wednesday at $12.70, down seven cents.
American said Wednesday, in a prepared statement, “We value the perspectives of our pilots and all team members and maintain regular dialogue with our union partners.
“While there is more work to do, American has a clear strategy,” the airline said. “We’re making meaningful investments across the business, and we remain focused on improving performance and delivering long-term value for our customers, team members and shareholders.”
Airline blogger Gary Leff wrote Wednesday that APA “is looking to blame management for poor financial performance” because contract talks are about to open. “To shift the narrative from poor performance means the airline can’t afford to invest more in a new contract to one that blames management for that poor performance,” he wrote.
In 2013, American’s three principal unions – APA, APFA and the Transport Workers Union worked together on a takeover with the US Airways management team, led by Doug Parker and Scott Kirby. Kirby quietly negotiated with the leaders of the three unions, after being told that he would never succeed in bringing them on board. Parker is now retired and Kirby is United Airlines CEO.
“In fact, the US Airways-American merger effort, undertaken hand-in-hand with labor, was probably one of the most successful ventures in the recent history of the labor movement because unions used their influence to fashion an outcome that benefitted their members as well as airlines and investors,” according to the book “American Airlines, US Airways and the Creation of the World’s Largest Airline,” which I co-wrote with Dan Reed.
Leave a comment