The board of directors of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), representing 28,000 American Airlines flight attendants, issued a “unanimous vote of no confidence in American CEO Robert Isom,” the union announced.
The letter from the union said, “Management’s poor operational and strategic strategy, including the controversial corporate sales and distribution plan it reversed in 2024, has left it behind other major carriers.”
Julie Hedrick, APFA president, said in a statement, “Management’s repeated failures are dragging this airline down and leaving frontline workers to pay the price, including losing out on meaningful profit-sharing at a company that should be thriving.”
When the recent winter storm hamstrung operations to the point where flight attendants were sleeping on airport floors, said the letter, “Robert Isom’s response was that it was just ‘part of our job.’ ” His “tone-deaf leadership,” said the letter, “shows a complete disregard for the human element and is actively harming both American Airlines and the people who keep it running every day.”
APFA cited J.D. Power’s annual satisfaction ratings, which ranked American last in first/business class customer satisfaction, with economy and basic economy also trailing major competitors, and The Wall Street Journal’s 2025 Best and Worst Airline Rankings, in which American fell to last place from fifth place in 2023.
APFA cited that the sales and distribution strategy supported by CEO Isom “alienated business customers and contributed to a sharp decline in rankings.” The strategy also “alienated key business customers and negatively impacted revenue.”
The letter follows a similarly critical statement sent to the carrier last week from the board of the Allied Pilots Association, which represents 16,000 American Airlines pilots. That communication said, “Our airline is on an underperforming path and has failed to define an identity or a strategy to correct course. … Our members have been clear and consistent in their expectations regarding these issues and have lost confidence in management’s ability to correct course.”
