The world's largest airline officially has a new CEO.
Robert Isom became CEO of American Airlines on April 1, 2022. He is the new airline CEO, replacing Doug Parker, who has been an airline CEO for two decades. America West, US Airways, and American Airlines were all headed by the same person.
Isom has been the President of American Airlines. He has been in the airline industry for over 25 years, and has worked at America West, US Airways, and then American Airlines.
The management change was announced in December. The transition was supposed to happen earlier, but Parker stayed on longer due to the Pandemic. The Board of Directors has a Chairman.
He has had an incredible career in the airline industry. Is anyone else the CEO of a major US airline for more than 20 years? There's no denying that Parker has had a successful and rewarding career, seeing airlines through two major mergers and eventually leading the world's largest airline.
When you consider his legacy, the length of his career leading airlines is remarkable. What can you say? American hasn't excelled with the passenger experience, labor relations, controlling costs, or financial performance under the leadership ofParker. The airline coasted?
It seems like American lacks a vision beyond just trying to be all things to all customers, but not in a way that works under the leadership of Parker. American can compete with Spirit on costs and can even compete with Delta when it comes to innovation.
I am expecting business to be the same with Isom as CEO of American Airlines. On the one hand, I think it's respectable, but on the other hand, it means there aren't many fresh ideas.
Isom has been with Parker for a long time, and seems to have the same management style. When Scott Kirby became United Airlines CEO, he really changed things up for the better, and I am not expecting that to happen again.
Kirby caught us off guard with the approach he took at United, given that he was previously at America West, US Airways, and then American Airlines. I think he went all-in with a new strategy when he moved to United because he knew he had to do things differently.
Maybe Isom will surprise us. I would say that not a lot will change if I placed a bet.
American Airlines has a new CEO as of today. I wouldn't expect the company's direction to change even though it's nice to see someone else leading the airline. One of the guys who has been with the airline for a long time is Isom, who was previously the President of American.
I would love to be surprised, but I'm not holding my breath.
What are you expecting from the new CEO of American?
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