American Airlines Faces Pressure as United Claims Aviation Dominance

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — American Airlines is under intense scrutiny as it prepares to release its quarterly earnings report Thursday, following bold claims from United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, who declared his company “the best airline in the history of aviation.” The statement came during United’s January earnings call, where the airline reported better-than-expected first-quarter results and projected strong growth for 2025.

United’s CFO, Mike Leskinen, highlighted the airline’s impressive stock performance, noting that United was the fourth-best performer in the 2024 S&P 500, with shares surging 135%. So far in 2025, United and Delta Air Lines have outperformed American Airlines in stock gains. Frontier Airlines, however, has emerged as the top performer, with shares up 18% year-to-date, compared to Delta and United’s 15% and American’s 9%.

The competition among the “big three” U.S. carriers—American, Delta, and United—has intensified in recent years, with United challenging Delta for the title of the best airline. This rivalry is based on factors such as attracting premium customers and achieving strong profit margins. While all three airlines claim superior on-time performance, United executives acknowledged during their earnings call that they still need to close the margin gap with Delta. In the fourth quarter of 2024, United reported a 9.7% adjusted pre-tax margin, compared to Delta’s 10.8%. For the full year, United’s margin was 8.1%, while Delta’s stood at 9.1%. American Airlines, meanwhile, reported a 2% adjusted pre-tax margin in the third quarter of 2024.

Dennis Tajer, spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, emphasized the challenges facing American Airlines CEO Robert Isom. “We’re going to see whether Robert Isom is strong enough to stay on his feet after getting knocked down last year,” Tajer said. “There’s a revenue generation issue, and that needs quick repair to catch up to Delta and United margins.”

Stephanie Link, chief investment strategist and portfolio manager at Hightower Advisors, described American Airlines as “the beaten-down guy” in a recent interview. She noted that while American trades at 13 times earnings, United and Delta trade at 9.8 and 11.4 times earnings, respectively. “It’s not that I don’t like it,” Link said, “but it’s not a really attractive story. Delta is quality, and in a more defensive environment, you want the best in breed.”

During United’s earnings call, Kirby made several indirect references to American Airlines, criticizing carriers that “chase load factor” and adding that “all capacity is not created equal.” He emphasized that United and Delta focus on adding service and route frequency that benefits customers, rather than pursuing unprofitable capacity. Kirby also noted that all seven of United’s hubs are profitable, raising questions about American’s hub performance ahead of its earnings report.

Andrew Nocella, United’s chief commercial officer, acknowledged American’s strength in hub connectivity, stating that United aims to improve connectivity in its hubs, particularly in Chicago, Houston, and Denver. A recent OAG report ranked the top U.S. airports for connectivity, with Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Charlotte, and Denver leading the list. Delta dominates Atlanta with 75% of flights, while American holds 85% in Dallas and 87% in Charlotte. United, however, has just 49% of flights in Chicago and 50% in Denver.

As American Airlines prepares to release its earnings, industry analysts and stakeholders will be watching closely to see if the carrier can close the gap with its competitors and regain investor confidence.