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Tag: Robert Isom

  • American Airlines flight attendants protest, call for CEO Robert Isom to step down

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    American Airlines flight attendants and union leaders held a protest outside the Fort Worth headquarters Thursday, asking for accountability, improved operational support and that CEO Robert Isom be ousted.

    A group of more than 60 flight attendants and union leaders gathered, chanting, “Isom has got to go,” and “We deserve better.”

    Dallas-Fort Worth Airport is American’s largest hub, and the carrier employs about 35,000 people in the region. The Association of Professional Flight Attendants blames Isom for a “relentless downward spiral” at the Fort Worth-based carrier.

    On Monday, the union sent out a historic vote of no confidence in Isom, saying that his leadership has put the company behind its competitors including United Airlines, Delta and Southwest Airlines.

    The APFA, which represents more than 28,000 American Airlines flight attendants, said in a statement that failures from the top have caused a “decline in operation and financial performance.”

    American Airlines flight attendants, union leaders and fleet services employees chant “Isom has got to go,” and “We deserve better” outside the airline’s Fort Worth headquarters.
    American Airlines flight attendants, union leaders and fleet services employees chant “Isom has got to go,” and “We deserve better” outside the airline’s Fort Worth headquarters. Fousia Abdullahi fousia.abdullahi@star-telegram.com

    Julie Hedrick, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, said that they have given Isom plenty of time and opportunity to change things around, but the airline continues to fall behind.

    “We were a premium carrier,” Hendrick said. “We want to be a premium carrier, and we don’t think that’s going to happen under this leadership team, especially under Robert Isom.”

    Hedrick said that the change needs to start with Isom, but the union hopes to see other leadership changes as well.

    “Reclaiming American’s reputation as the world’s premium global airline is our mission, and we are relentless in that pursuit,” American told the Star-Telegram in a statement. “The foundation is set, and the plan is in place for us to deliver for our customers, shareholders and each other, and we will do that as one team.

    Erik Harris, the national treasurer of APFA, told the Star-Telegram the change needs to happen now.

    “We fail quarter after quarter, Harris said. “We’re in the last place, yet we show up, we take care of our passengers, but our product lags. Our profitability is down, and it’s not because of us. Our careers are at risk, our families are at risk, and we’re here to say that it’s time for a change.”

    Erik Harris, the national treasurer of APFA, leads chants at the protest on Thursday, Feb. 12. He is asking for changes to be made within American Airlines leadership to restore the airline's reputation in the industry.
    Erik Harris, the national treasurer of APFA, leads chants at the protest on Thursday, Feb. 12. He is asking for changes to be made within American Airlines leadership to restore the airline’s reputation in the industry. Fousia Abdullahi fousia.abdullahi@star-telegram.com

    The APFA was not the only union protesting. The CWA, AFA, TWU, SEIU and fleet service took part in the protest.

    Tevita Uhatafe, president of the North Texas Area Labor Federation, joined the protest in solidarity with the APFA.

    “We will stand with you in this fight until it’s over,” Uhatafe said.

    Flight attendants are not the only ones upset with the airlines CEO. The American Airlines Pilots Association, which represents 16,000 pilots, sent a letter to the company’s board saying the airline is underperforming and is showing no signs of having a plan to correct the problems.

    On social media the pilots union has been vocal about criticizing the airline’s performance.

    Nick Bader, APFA Miami base president, said flight attendants have done their part on hundreds of flights each day to keep the airline going.

    “Now, when the company is making money, what do they do? Hide the money,” Bader said. “They’re hiding the money by paying off their debt to not pay us. So thank you all for coming out to join your board of directors, your national office, some members of the EC, and we want to thank the other unions for joining us. We’ve got one message, fire Robert Isom today.

    A crowd of more than 60 protesters including flight attendants and union leaders gathered outside the American Airlines headquaters in Fort Worth, chanting about the changes they would like to see happen within the airline.
    A crowd of more than 60 protesters including flight attendants and union leaders gathered outside the American Airlines headquaters in Fort Worth, chanting about the changes they would like to see happen within the airline. Fousia Abdullahi fousia.abdullahi@star-telegram.com

    Josh Black, a Phoenix-based flight attendant flying for 12 years and the APFA national secretary, said they are tired of being in last place.

    “Our customers want a premium product,” Black said. “They want to have a good experience when they fly American Airlines. The flight attendants are frequently having to apologize for our management’s mistakes when it comes to rescheduling flights, to ensure we have proper items on board. The flight attendants are taking the brunt of it, and we want to see a better product for our passengers.”

    This story was originally published February 12, 2026 at 4:23 PM.

    Fousia Abdullahi

    Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    Fousia Abdullahi is a Fort Worth Star-Telegram news reporter who covers suburban cities including Southlake, Colleyville, Grapevine and Keller. She enjoys reading and attending local events. Send tips by email or phone.

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  • Airlines back more spending, staff to fix failed FAA system

    Airlines back more spending, staff to fix failed FAA system

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    DALLAS (AP) — Airline executives bristled last year when government officials, led by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, blamed the carriers for causing thousands of flight cancellations and mistreating their customers.

    The shoe is on the other foot now after a technology outage at the Federal Aviation Administration grounded planes for a time earlier this week, but airline leaders are taking a different tack.

    They’ve avoided harsh words and score-settling. Instead they’re calling on Congress and the Biden administration to give the FAA more staff and more money to upgrade its systems.

    “The FAA, I know, is doing the very best they can with what they have, but we need to stand behind the FAA,” Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said Friday.

    American Airlines CEO Robert Isom praised the FAA for “calling a time out” Wednesday morning — temporarily barring planes nationwide from taking off — while it fixed a system that provides safety and other information to pilots and airline dispatchers. He said it showed that safety comes first.

    “Investment is required,” Isom told CNBC. “It’s going to be billions of dollars, and it’s not something that is done overnight.”

    The airline executives, of course, have an interest in making sure that the FAA can function. The agency manages the nation’s airspace and hires air traffic controllers who must juggle a mix of passenger and cargo jets, smaller private planes, helicopters and drones.

    Bastian said the FAA’s lack of adequate staffing is causing longer flight times and making it harder to operate in congested parts of the Northeast and Florida.

    “There is no question that the investment in a modernized air-traffic control system will drive a tremendous amount of efficiencies as well as growth, which will mean better service for the American public,” he told reporters.

    Airline executives no doubt want to remain in the good graces of the bureaucrats who regulate them. Isom went out of his way to praise the leadership ability of Buttigieg, who heads the FAA’s parent organization.

    Airlines have been pushing the FAA to modernize the air-traffic control system for years. They argue that a faster and complete rollout of a so-called NextGen plan to modernize the national airspace system will benefit the traveling public by making flights more efficient and reliable.

    The FAA’s technology is certain to be a key issue this year, as Congress considers legislation that would govern the agency for the next five years. But the initial response from Capitol Hill has been to demand answers from Buttigieg about this week’s debacle.

    Late Friday, more than 120 members of Congress said in a letter to Buttigieg that “the FAA was well aware of the issues facing the NOTAM system” which failed this week. NOTAM stands for notice to air missions.

    In the letter signed by 71 Republicans and 51 Democrats they said Congress directed the FAA in 2018 to modernize the NOTAM system, and FAA requested money to replace “vintage hardware” that supports it.

    “Coupled with this week’s failure, significant questions are raised about how long these issues have existed and what is needed to prevent such issues from occurring again,” the lawmakers said. “Again, this is completely unacceptable.”

    Buttigieg’s office declined to comment on the letter but said in a statement that the NOTAM system had been functioning properly since Wednesday with no unusual flight delays or cancellations.

    Among those signing the letter were Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., the new chairman of the House Transportation Committee, and Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., the top-ranking Democrat on the committee.

    Earlier in the week, Graves suggested that the breakdown of the FAA alert system was related to “the number of empty desks and vacant offices at the FAA,” including the lack of a permanent administrator since the last one quit in March 2021.

    Graves has not commented about FAA funding levels.

    Larsen said in an interview earlier this week that he is optimistic Democrats and Republicans can put aside partisan differences and help the FAA improve its technology.

    “This was a major disruption to the traveling public, and they didn’t deserve it,” he said.

    On the Senate side of the Capitol, Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said the Commerce Committee which she leads will look into the outage. She has also promised to look into airline outages like the one that struck Southwest last month.

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  • American Airlines posts $483 million profit for late summer

    American Airlines posts $483 million profit for late summer

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    DALLAS — The three biggest U.S. airlines enjoyed a boffo summer, reaping a combined profit of more than $2 billion as Americans jammed on to planes despite fares that were sharply higher than a year ago.

    What pandemic?

    American Airlines said Thursday that it earned $483 million on record-breaking revenue that more than offset higher fuel costs in the third quarter. American predicted that profit will continue to exceed Wall Street expectations during the holiday-packed remainder of 2022.

    The results from American, however, weren’t quite as grand as figures from its more prosperous rivals. United Airlines reported a $942 million profit on Tuesday, and Delta Air Lines posted third-quarter earnings of $695 million last week.

    Clearly, many people are eager to travel after most were grounded during the early part of the pandemic. Executives at all three big U.S. airlines said they see no indication that consumer concerns about inflation and the economy are hurting ticket sales.

    “American’s third-quarter results, including our record revenue performance, are significant considering the macroeconomic uncertainty facing so many people,” CEO Robert Isom said on a call with analysts and reporters. “Demand remains strong.”

    American, which is based in Fort Worth, Texas, predicted that fourth-quarter profit will be between 50 cents and 70 cents per share, which would beat Wall Street’s forecast of 19 cents per share.

    U.S. air travel has roared back from pandemic lows in early 2020. Last Sunday, the Transportation Security Administration screened nearly 2.5 million travelers on a single day, the busiest day at the nation’s airports since February 2020.

    Travel is booming despite a 43% leap in airfares in the past year, according to government figures.

    One reason fares are high is that the number of flights has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, leaving consumers vying for fewer seats. American, for example, did nearly 10% less flying in the third quarter than in the same period of 2019.

    American said it plans to run at 95% to 100% of 2019 levels next year. That is in line with Delta, which expects to restore its full schedule by next summer. United recently announced it will expand European flying next summer.

    Isom said American could add more flights next year but will take a cautious approach. American, Delta and others canceled flights earlier this year when they didn’t have enough staff, particularly pilots.

    “We are going to make sure that we don’t outpace what we have, either in terms of aircraft deliveries if that’s the constraint, or if it’s pilots at a regional level or our ability to train pilots” at American, he said.

    For the third quarter, American said its adjusted profit, which excludes certain items, was 69 cents per share, compared with a forecast of 54 cents per share by analysts surveyed by FactSet.

    Revenue rose to $13.46 billion, slightly higher than the $13.36 billion predicted by analysts. American, which has a major hub operation in Miami and operates many flights to the Caribbean, said it lost about $40 million in revenue because of hurricanes Fiona and Ian in September.

    Also Thursday, the parent of Alaska Airlines reported a $40 million third-quarter profit on record revenue of $2.8 billion. The Seattle-based airline said, however, that non-fuel costs in the fourth quarter will be higher than expected because of three new contracts with union labor groups including pilots.

    Shares of American Airlines Group Inc. closed down 4% and Alaska Air Group Inc. dropped 5%, while shares of Delta, United and Southwest dipped by smaller percentages.

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