Unhappy American Airlines cabin crew staff have launched a scathing assessment of the carrier’s CEO Robert Isom following the latest financial results this week.
On January 27, 2026, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) published a statement reflecting flight attendants’ displeasure over American Airlines’ performance.
“While we are pleased American achieved a small profit, our airline continues to lag its competitors by a significant margin. This is no longer an anomaly, but rather a pattern of failure under the leadership of CEO Robert Isom and the American Airlines Board of Directors,” said the APFA statement.
The union which represents over 25,000 of the airline’s cabin crew, added: “American’s workforce is not the problem. Leadership is.”
Central to the argument put forward by cabin crew staff is the perception that Delta Air Lines and United Airlines are surging ahead, leaving American Airlines a distant third.
Employees are understood to be frustrated with their profit-sharing bonuses compared to those in similar roles at Delta Air Lines.
The union points out that while American’ pre-tax profits for the year were $352 million, rival Delta’s were over $5 billion.
“To management we ask: What is American’s plan to compete? Why are we not hearing from the Board of Directors as American continues to fall further behind? The status quo is indefensible. The bottom of the rankings, quarter after quarter, is unacceptable. Accountability at the top is long overdue,” said APFA.
The statement said that while cabin crew were pleased to see the leadership upgrade its premium cabins, it said that its economy class was “outdated, uncomfortable, and far from competitive”.
“For years, CEO Robert Isom and his team have solely focused on Accountability, Reliability, and Profitability, ignoring investment in our product and the overall customer experience. During that time, our competitors focused on all aspects of their airlines, while American now stumbles to pick up the pieces,” continued the statement.
Before finally adding: “The employees at American Airlines, our passengers and the investors can no longer wait for Robert Isom and the American Airlines Board of Directors to deliver on their empty promises. As the entire industry leaves American Airlines in the dust, it is time for new leadership and a new vision for American Airlines.”
News of the statement came after American Airlines struggled to bounce back to full operations following thousands of industry flight cancellations due to Winter Storm Fern.
“We are grateful to our team members for their tremendous efforts this past weekend and this week as we’ve worked through this storm to take care of our customers — facing very difficult ramp conditions, gate congestion, challenges getting into work and close-in cancellations that are extremely disruptive for customers and team members, especially crew members,” said American Airlines.
You can read the full flight attendant statement on the APFA website.
