American Airlines projected Tuesday that its focus on premium will “begin delivering results in 2026” as the carrier races to catch up to its far more profitable rivals and capitalize on strong demand from high-spending customers.
The Fort Worth, Texas-based airline projected it will deliver nearly $2 of improvement in adjusted earnings per share at the midpoint over last year.
American also expects to earn 7% to 10% more revenue in the first three months of 2026 compared with 2025.
American’s stock fell 2% in early trading.
Here is how American performed in the fourth quarter compared with Wall Street estimates compiled by LSEG:
Earnings per share: 16 cents adjusted vs. 34 cents expectedRevenue: $14 billion vs. $14.03 billion expected
American posted net income of $99 million, or 15 cents per share, down from $590 million, or 84 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue was up 2.5% from last year. Excluding net special items, the company reported adjusted earnings per share of 16 cents.
“American Airlines is positioned for significant upside in 2026 and beyond,” CEO Robert Isom said in a statement. “We have built a strong foundation, and we look forward to taking advantage of the investments we have made in our customer experience, network, fleet, partnerships and loyalty program.”
The airline also said the government shutdown negatively impacted fourth-quarter revenue by approximately $325 million.
“Fourth quarter, it hit us hard,” Isom said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday morning. “The government shutdown hit us, it hit us harder than others. … The good news on that is that as soon as the government shutdown got over, we’ve seen bookings return.”
American said this weekend’s winter storm, which marked Sunday as the largest flight cancellation day since the pandemic hit in early 2020, has resulted in a 1.5 percentage point reduction to the company’s first-quarter 2026 capacity guidance, along with an estimated negative revenue impact of $150 million to $200 million.
American said Monday that five of its nine hub airports were disrupted by the storm, including its largest hub at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. On a call with analysts Tuesday, Isom said the airline had to cancel more than 9,000 flights over the past four days, making it the largest weather-related disruption in its history.
The airline said passenger unit revenue was down 2.5% year over year, though that number would have been positive without the impact from the government shutdown. Premium product offerings continued to perform well, with year-over-year premium unit revenue outpacing the main cabin for the fourth quarter.
“I like where we’re headed,” Isom told CNBC. “Premium traffic is going to stay strong, and our product, again, is resonating.”
American has been revamping its fleet, lounges, and food and beverages to draw in customers who are willing to spend more on premium tickets and co-branded credit cards. Rivals Delta Air Lines and United Airlines are far in the lead, however, and account for almost all of the industry’s profit.
