No doubt, AA leads the league in excuses. Embarrassing. Randy
On Aug 8, 2025, at 9:49 AM, Tom Ronell via Mifnet <[email protected]> wrote:  Brian Sumers • Airline Industry Expert | Journalist | Podcaster <https://www.linkedin.com/in/briansumers?miniProfileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_profile%3AACoAAAa_VO8BM5owLw3Qr-kGExg3yu1oyiKf4Ug> • American Airlines<https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-airlines/> may trail United Airlines<https://www.linkedin.com/company/united-airlines/> and Delta Air Lines<https://www.linkedin.com/company/delta-air-lines/> on margin. But there's one place where it is No. 1 — earnings calls excuse. I don't think much of those. What about you? Big airlines fly all over the world. Sometimes there's demand softness in a few regions. Or sometimes one airline has a labor cost advantage. These things happen. It's nothing to whine about. https://lnkd.in/gK8e8tcz American’s Whiny Earnings Call Executives came up with *new* excuses about why they underperform Delta and United. I didn't think much of them. Brian Sumers<https://substack.com/@theairlineobserver> Jul 25, 2025 Dear readers, Considering lagging domestic demand, American Airlines had an OK second quarter result, with net income of $599 million<https://americanairlines.gcs-web.com/news-releases/news-release-details/american-airlines-reports-second-quarter-2025-financial-results> and a 7.9 percent operating margin. On margin, it again underperformed its top two peer airlines, and as is their custom now, CEO Robert Isom and CFO Devon May offered excuses for why their airline lags Delta (with its 12.6 percent second quarter operating margin) and United (with an 8.7 percent margin). All of which are, of course, outside their control. “If you take a look at our results today, the primary differentiator between us and some of our competitors is largely two things,” Isom said on Thursday. “One, we're paying our team members at market wages. Others are benefiting from not doing that. I'm sure that that will catch up over the long run. And the second thing is, we do have a network that we're proud to say is more oriented to domestic. And let's face it: the domestic network has been under stress because of the uncertainty in the economy and the reluctance of domestic passengers to get in the game.” I credit the two executives for their new and creative narrative about why they stink compared to others. During prior American calls, I have heard excuses about old credit card deals with crummy economics, and about distribution woes (a problem of their own making), and even an acknowledgment that American’s undersized network in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles is an issue. But this double-whammy of labor economics plus network was a new one for me. And while I am sure Isom and May were proud of their argument (they both used almost exactly the same talking points to answer different questions), I don’t think it was nearly as effective as they may think. These are ridiculous talking points At least with me, they were not effective. In fact, I find them offensive to my intelligence. Do Isom and May think the people who listen to these calls are stupid? https://www.theairlineobserver.com/p/americans-whiny-earnings-call -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Revised: 20250507 You are receiving The Mifnet because you requested to join this list. The Mifnet is largely a labor of love, however the infrastructure isn't exactly cost-free. If you'd care to make a small contribution to the effort, please know that it would be greatly appreciated: https://wardell.us/url/mifbit All posts sent to the list should abide by these policies: 1) List members acknowledge that participation in Mifnet is a privilege--not a right. 2) Posts are always off the record, absent specific permission from the author. 3) The tone of discussions is collegial. 4) Posts are expected to be in reasonably good taste. 5) We discuss ideas and not personalities, and we don't speak ill of other Mifnet members. * The Mifnet WEB SITE is: https://www.mifnet.com/ * To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list at any time please visit: https://lists.mifnet.com/ OR: SEND THIS MESSAGE via email: [email protected]?subject=leave * Send Mifnet mailing list POSTS/SUBMISSIONS to: [email protected] * You may reach the person managing The Mifnet at: [email protected] * Please consider the DIGEST version of The Mifnet, which consolidates all list traffic into 1-3 messages daily. See instructions at: https://lists.mifnet.com/ * Manage your personal Mifnet SUBSCRIPTION at: https://lists.mifnet.com/ * For a list of all available Mifnet commands, SEND THIS MESSAGE via email: [email protected]?subject=help * View The Mifnet LIST POLICIES and PRIVACY POLICY at: https://mifnet.com/index.php/policies * View instructions for Mifnet DELIVERY PROBLEMS at: https://mifnet.com/index.php/delivery-problems * View The Mifnet LIST ARCHIVE at: https://lists.mifnet.com/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Revised: 20250507 You are receiving The Mifnet because you requested to join this list. The Mifnet is largely a labor of love, however the infrastructure isn't exactly cost-free. If you'd care to make a small contribution to the effort, please know that it would be greatly appreciated: https://wardell.us/url/mifbit All posts sent to the list should abide by these policies: 1) List members acknowledge that participation in Mifnet is a privilege--not a right. 2) Posts are always off the record, absent specific permission from the author. 3) The tone of discussions is collegial. 4) Posts are expected to be in reasonably good taste. 5) We discuss ideas and not personalities, and we don't speak ill of other Mifnet members. * The Mifnet WEB SITE is: https://www.mifnet.com/ * To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list at any time please visit: https://lists.mifnet.com/ OR: SEND THIS MESSAGE via email: [email protected]?subject=leave * Send Mifnet mailing list POSTS/SUBMISSIONS to: [email protected] * You may reach the person managing The Mifnet at: [email protected] * Please consider the DIGEST version of The Mifnet, which consolidates all list traffic into 1-3 messages daily. See instructions at: https://lists.mifnet.com/ * Manage your personal Mifnet SUBSCRIPTION at: https://lists.mifnet.com/ * For a list of all available Mifnet commands, SEND THIS MESSAGE via email: [email protected]?subject=help * View The Mifnet LIST POLICIES and PRIVACY POLICY at: https://mifnet.com/index.php/policies * View instructions for Mifnet DELIVERY PROBLEMS at: https://mifnet.com/index.php/delivery-problems * View The Mifnet LIST ARCHIVE at: https://lists.mifnet.com/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/
