In recent weeks, we’ve seen the major US airlines report their Q2 2026 earnings. Obviously it’s an unusual time for the industry — while we’ve seen a huge spike in jet fuel prices, we’ve also seen airlines be able to charge higher fares (which they believe they can sustain).
In the United States, the story has largely been the same at most airlines — we’re seeing record revenue, while profits are down year-over-year. However, the extent to which profits are down differs massively. American is obviously the carrier among the “big three” that’s struggling the most, and it has just reported its financial results, including updated guidance. It’s all not very pretty.
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Obviously you’d expect some year-over-year changes at airlines, reflecting higher revenue but also higher costs. However, in general you’d hope that American is somewhat “tracking” its competitors, in terms of the percent changes year-over-year. In 2025, American’s annual profits plunged by 87%, and CEO Robert Isom promised significant upside.
So, how are things going now? American has just reported a net income of $71 million for Q2 2026, representing an 88% year-over-year decrease in net profit. As a point of comparison, Delta and United saw profits decrease by 25% and 17%, respectively.
|
Airline
|
Q2 2025 net income
|
Q2 2026 net income
|
Percent change
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
American
|
$599 million
|
$71 million
|
−88.1%
|
|
Delta
|
$2.13 billion
|
~$1.60 billion
|
−24.9%
|
|
United
|
$973 million
|
$805 million
|
−17.3%
|
Now, to be thorough, let’s also compare Q1 2026 results compared to the previous year (keep in mind Q1 2025 was really rough due to the tariff situation, so all airlines saw a profit increase over that period).
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