Robert Isom, CEO of American Airlines, faces rising pressure from the carrier's unions over its lagging financial performance

New York (AFP) - American Airlines CEO Robert Isom is facing pressure from labor unions frustrated with the carrier’s financial performance and handling of recent weather disruptions.

The airline’s union for flight attendants issued a “no confidence” vote in Isom on Monday, while the pilots’ union amplified a demand to meet with American’s board of directors after describing conversations alone with management as fruitless.

“We’re just not hearing what the long-term strategy is,” said Dennis Tajer, spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association (APA), which headlined a recent message, “We Need Decisive Action.”

Isom, a board member, would be expected to join the meeting, said Tajer, adding that the union is not seeking Isom’s ouster.

Isom told APA President Nick Silva that it was “more appropriate” for him to meet with the union to discuss pilot concerns, according to a letter from Isom in response to the APA’s request to speak with the board.

“The Board and I are aligned with you in the desire to make American the strongest airline possible in every respect,” Isom said, adding that he is determined to “return American to its rightful place atop the industry.”

But APA reiterated its demand for a meeting with the full board, saying a conversation with the board was the way to address “the very real concerns our pilots have with the current trajectory of our company.”

In 2025, American Airlines reported profits of just $111 million. United Airlines made $3.4 billion in profit last year, while Delta Air Lines reported profits of $5.0 billion.

The weak results translate into lower bonuses for employees under American’s profit-sharing plan.

Tajer said some of the gap is because a greater share of American’s business is domestic, which has underperformed compared with international travel.

But some of American’s problems have been self-inflicted. In 2024, American scrapped an attempted revamp of its corporate booking system, denting performance.

The unions are also frustrated with the carrier’s handling of the recent Winter Storm Fern, which battered the company’s hubs in Dallas and Charlotte.

The storm had led American to cancel more than 9,000 flights, making it the “largest weather-related operational disruption in our history,” Isom said on January 27 conference call.

But the unions say the carrier was poorly prepared for the bad weather, which left workers stranded away from homes, sleeping in airports and placed on hold for six hours or more.

“When the recent winter storm hamstrung our operations to the point where flight attendants were sleeping on airport floors, Robert Isom’s response was that it was just ‘part of our job’,” said Julie Hedrick, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants.

“His tone-deaf leadership shows a complete disregard for the human element and is actively harming both American Airlines and the people who keep it running every day.”