American Airlines’ new CEO vows reliability as massive peak travel season kicks off

American Airlines’ new CEO Robert Isom is aiming for one thing this summer: reliability. The airline grew faster than its large competitors last year and occasionally passengers faced widespread disruptions, the result of routine challenges like weather as well as understaffing. Other carriers such as Southwest Airlines and Spirit Airlines faced similar issues that forced them to trim schedules. Now Isom, who took the helm of the biggest US carrier on March 31, said his priority is making sure passengers can count on American this summer and beyond. “People really need to feel like they have control of their itineraries and we give them control by making sure they get to where they want to go on time. I just can’t be any more blunt about it than that,” Isom told pilots during a company town hall last week. “Other airlines are really struggling.” American’s partner in the Northeast US, JetBlue Airways, for example, earlier this month told staff it would cut as much as 10% of summer flying to avoid repeats of mass cancellations and delays, CNBC reported. American’s West Coast code-sharing partner, Alaska Airlines, announced a 2% capacity cut this spring because of a shortage of pilots. Air travel has surged and passengers have shown they are willing to pay up for tickets after two years of pandemic, a trend that’s helping carriers cover a jump in fuel costs. The TSA on Friday screened more than 2.3m people, about 10% fewer than in 2019 but up 57% from a year ago. Isom said domestic leisure travelers are making up for relatively weaker demand for business and international travel. March appeared to be American’s best month in its history, he said. American is set to report first-quarter results and provide its Q2 outlook before the market opens on Thursday. American’s Q1 capacity was down close to 11% from the same period of 2019, it said in a filing last week. <br/>