Multiple Carriers Report Business Travel Momentum in Q1 Earnings Calls

American, United and Southwest all see continuing improvement on corporate front

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April 27, 2026

Multiple airlines – including American Airlines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines — reported strong momentum in business travel during earnings call last week.

Robert Isom, CEO of American, said that after fully recapturing in the last quarter of 2025 the managed corporate share lost with its prior sales and distribution strategy, “we gained a little bit since then, and we’re going to continue to be very active at improving from there.”

Devon May, CFO, said that there was “continued momentum” in managed corporate revenue, which increased 13% year over year in the first quarter. Nathaniel Pieper, chief commercial officer, added that first quarter revenue for American’s AAdvantage Business product, its corporate loyalty program geared toward small and midsized enterprises, was up 28% year over year, and “our [travel management company] performance was up 11%, thanks to our partnerships with Amex GBT, with BCD and their support of American.”

United Airlines’ first-quarter business travel revenue increased 14% year over year with “strength across all verticals,” company executives said during the carrier’s earnings call. That demand has remained even as United has raised fares to account for rising jet fuel prices, they said.

Andrew Nocella, United’s chief commercial officer, said that “Just in the last week or so, our yields are now up 20% year over year.” He added, “But even more importantly … business traffic is over the last two weeks, up 25%, business revenue up 25%. … So these price points are being absorbed and passed through and volumes are increasing.”

Southwest Airlines’ managed corporate revenue increased 16% year over year in the first quarter and 25% in March, each representing the largest increase in the carrier’s history, according to Andrew Watterson, COO. “We are seeing clear traction with business travelers,” he said.

Watterson added that since the Jan. 27 launch of assigned seating and a new boarding process, the carrier has seen “an acceleration of new unique customers in our corporate channels, which indicates a kind of desire now to fly Southwest Airlines.” He continued, “Also, within the same existing network of accounts, we’ve seen buy-up to the higher fares as corporate policy allows them to buy up.”