As anyone who follows the airline industry knows, American Airlines is horribly lagging Delta Air Lines and United Airlines when it comes to financial performance. I mean, the airline didn’t even turn a profit in the third quarter.
Delta has long been the leader when it comes to profitability, but United has been narrowing the gap (though perhaps not quite as much as United CEO Scott Kirby claims, especially given the labor contracts that United still has to get squared away). Financially, it almost feels like a zero sum game, where United’s improved financial performance comes at American’s expense, though I’m not convinced it has to be that way.
While everyone seems to have their theoretical magic formula for how to fix American, I think that sort of misses the bigger picture. I don’t think anything will make a material difference without a major reboot at the top.
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on One Mile at a Time.
