The President of the American Airlines pilots union favors merger discussions that would have another airline take over the carrier. Three months ago his union rejected declaring no confidence in CEO Robert Isom and sought a meeting with the board, but the board refused to meet.
Now, the union President says he’s taking meetings with Wall Street analysts and journalists promoting their view that:
- American management lacks a long-term strategy
- The status quo is unacceptable
- They’re open to “any path forward” (like mergers) that improve the airline.
We have seen little in terms of vision, culture change, and operational improvements to believe that meaningful positive progress can be achieved in an acceptable timeframe.
This is prompted by United CEO’s public acknowledgment that he pitched a merger – and he “encourages” American’s pilots to read Kirby’s message on how “such a merger would be transformative for both airlines and how it could withstand regulatory scrutiny.”
He says American management keeps asking whether anyone is tralking to them about a takeover plan. “That answer is, ‘Yes.'” And he wants American’s board to consider these proposals.
There are a number of motivations for this. There’s a combination of sincere belief that overthrowing management would lead to greater profits, which means (1) more profit sharing under their contract and (2) more resources to clai in their next negotiation, and the pilots union is in the midst of its own internal power struggle and merger battle so leadership needs to look aggressive and confrontiational to their base.
A large faction of union members are looking to merge their independent union with the Air Line Pilots Association. A year and a half ago, a union President who opposed merging with ALPA was recalled.
In other words, the message from the American Airlines pilot union is both true and a reflcetion of its internal politics. But it’s also a problem for the airline, where the water cooler talk of replacing the CEO has died down compared to the fever pitch of three months ago.
And it’s somewhat ironic because the airline seems to finally have a vision and strategy for the first time in 12 years. The CEO isn’t out selling that vision to employees, investors and customers. But the strategy appears to be there – to make investments in customer experience so that customers prefer (or at least do not avoid) the carrier. And it comes at precisely a time that Delta may be faltering.
Can’t blame them for trying, but this seems more performative than anything. (Ooh lala… a meeting with Wall Street… and journalists… that’ll show Isom who’s boss… psh.)
Could be worse. You could still be flying 767s and hitting bakery trucks. Or, you could be failing to operate reliably, and just blame the weather, even when it’s perfect conditions… *cough* DELTA.
Why are the pilots “pussyfooting” around when the flight attendants came out and said no confidence in Robert Isom? If they want change come out and state it!
Robert Isom was never ever the guy to lead American. He has no leadership skills. The classic bean counter if you will.
No to airline mergers. Yes to airline closures and liquidations, allowing healthier competitors to buy what they want (and only what they want) on the open market.
Once again, an industry shakeout is long, long overdue. The longer they wait, the worse the pain will be.
Here’s a path forward: lock out the unions. Hire back only employees that are competent and actually want to do the job. Short term pain for sure, but it’s the only way out of this union death spiral jobs program.
What do I know, but I would imagine that the Board is going to evaluate Nat Pieper over the next ~2 years or so as a potential CEO candidate. Is he leading the AA/Alaska revenue sharing talks given his Alaska / Oneworld background? Even if Isom did not have the Board in his pocket, why would the Board push for a new CEO in 2026? A new CEO today would be saddled with high fuel prices and a 100% focus on debt paydown. Better to announce a new CEO in, say, 2028 when fuel prices hopefully have declined and there’s only a 90% focus on paying down debt.
Alaska should buy American.
@Mantis — You literally abandoned us for Asia. Stop attacking American workers on here.
Unlike DL and WN labor, AA and UA labor have long engaged in attempts at publicly shaming their mgmt when the companies failed to perform to labor’s expectations. As much as some want to argue that being successful doesn’t matter, labor benefits or pays the price depending on how financially successful airlines are.
UA didn’t begin to turn itself around because of labor -mgmt discord but because the board and Oscar Munoz realized that UA needed to change and he set up the company for success.
AA mgmt has come to realize they need to change just as WN has come to the same conclusion. Every other airline is now pushing the same premium revenue strategies that DL developed and UA has copied so far to better success than any other airline besides DL.
AA labor wants the company to succeed more but they surely – if they think for even a nanosecond – know that AA employees would be badly hurt in a merger w/ any other carrier. AA’s underperforming hubs would be shrunk or disposed of while other airlines would swoop in take AA’s best jobs – including its flying from successful southern hubs.
APA can’t be taken seriously against a lot of people in it wanting to merge w/ ALPA; throwing in a merger with UA as a good idea shows that it is actually AA mgmt that has a far more credible plan to get the company and its employees back on track.
@Tim Dunn — Speaking of DL labor, the flight attendants, baggage handlers, and maintenance technicians should join Delta’s pilots (since 1934!) and dispatchers in organizing. It’s not great to be ‘at-will’ during a downturn; with all the recent disruptions, non-union crews have to book their own hotels and transportation. Sure, Delta may pre-emptively raise pay to discourage unionization, but let’s see how long that lasts. You can enjoy profit-sharing and the additional benefits and protections, too.
A merger! A name for the new entity: Unamerican! Catchy!
of course, 1990
so they can get into the same pi78ong match that the two are engaged in over staffing?
DL raises pay for union and non-union workers because they can afford to do so and because they can see a clear connection between higher pay and increased revenue.
Do you know that DL gets more revenue per employee from their workforce than any other US airline – and by a pretty wide margin? It is precisely why DL is able to keep raising pay and put pressure on other airlines.
DL non-union labor have nothing to gain from becoming unionized.
AA labor, OTOH, desperately wants to get even half of the financial gains that DL employees get – but the same is true of UA employees.
Kirby is just a better cheerleader in convincing UA employees how good they have it so they don’t act out the way AA employees do
@retard
Do you ever have anything interesting or relevant to say about me outside of my present location? Such a boring and slow witted stand to take on a travel blog. Many here will live abroad for some years, it’s not renouncing my citizenship, you dullard.
@Tim Dunn — Money does matter. The 4% pay raise (starting June) is good; the $1.3b profit sharing is also good. Yet, transparency, scheduling, representation, and other benefits and protections matter, too. Without unions and the rules they fight for, internal company portals that can be updated without notice (think, seniority, transfers, and holiday pay). Pilots and dispatchers know this; I think it’s only a matter of time before the rest realize it.
@Mantis — So, you mentioned Grab, recently… so, you in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, or Myanmar?
Unless one of the US3 ended up in Chapter 11 there will never be a merger between the US3. It’s just worm food for people on travel sites to obsess over.
@George Romey — Better or worse than a Wawa sandwich?
@Mantis – Just ignore him. I’ve been having a *much* better experience on this blog by doing so lately. Also, I am a (former) fellow Asia expat. It was an awesome experience, and made me far more patriotic, not less so. He’s clearly far too stupid to understand that expatriation has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you love your native country. My guess is that he’s a dumb flight attendant living in his mother’s basement… but really, who cares? He is worthless and meaningless, and his opinions mean less than nothing.
I fly AA in and out of PHL about 25 times a year. I have been about a harsh a critic of AA over the years as anyone.
I must say that in the past year they have gotten better. My last flight a week ago was the first delayed flight of mine in months. They were transparent about the timing and reasons for the delay from the very start.
As an unasked for surprise they gave me 2500 miles as compensation.