Dec 12 2021

American has underperformed the industry financially, alienating shareholders. They’ve alienated customers and employees. They’ve focused primarily on operational reliability but haven’t delivered that, as they’ve offered a ‘me too’ (but a little bit less) inflight product. They lack a strategy for earning a revenue premium over competitors, necessary because of their lagging financials and crushing debt. So far it doesn’t sound like Isom sees that the current path is unsustainable over the long term.

In comments to employees this past week he made clear that his appointment at CEO isn’t about change that he’s been a part of every major strategic decision at the airline for years, and he believes they’re on the right path.

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Dec 11 2021

Doug Parker will step down as CEO of American Airlines March 31, 2022 and current airline President Robert Isom will become CEO. He reaction of many was ‘meet the new boss, same as the old boss.’ Isom as served along side Parker for years. Before becoming President of American Airlines he served as Chief Operating Officer at American and at US Airways. He has previous experience at Northwest Airlines, which had a deservedly bad reputation for its product, service, and employee morale.

But as Scott Kirby at United shows – himself formerly President of American and US Airways – a fresh start and ascending to the CEO role affords an opportunity to break from the past. And a CEO transition is the perfect time to revisit >everything. A CEO transition coming out of a pandemic doubly so.

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