American Airlines Chief Executive Robert Isom on Thursday dismissed the prospect of combining with United Airlines, calling such a merger anti-competitive and harmful to customers, while stressing that American will vigorously defend its hub at Chicago O'Hare. He presented partnerships as the preferred avenue for growth, including the possibility of broadening the carrier's relationship with Alaska Airlines.
Isom made his remarks on American's first-quarter earnings call as the U.S. airline industry faces renewed speculation over consolidation and grapples with tighter operational limits at congested hubs. The comments also followed earlier outreach by United CEO Scott Kirby to the Trump administration this year, in which Kirby raised the prospect of a tie-up with American.
On the operational front, Isom said federal steps to reduce congestion at Chicago O'Hare would enable American to restore its schedule there to about 500 daily departures. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration last week imposed a cap on flights at O'Hare for the summer after airlines had scheduled more flying than the airport could safely manage, forcing carriers to scale back planned service. Without those measures, O'Hare "would have likely been in a delay program for the very first flight of the day," Isom said.
Roommates, not married
Stressing the competitive posture between the carriers at O'Hare, Isom said American has no intention of ceding its position in Chicago where it faces direct competition from United. "No one’s going to kick us out of Chicago," he said, adding the two carriers would be "roommates for a long, long time." On the prospect of a full merger, he was unequivocal: "We’re going to be roommates, and we’re not getting married."
Isom also noted American remains prepared to consider asset opportunities if they arise, but that the airline has "nothing under consideration now."
Partnerships take precedence, Alaska ties in focus
Where American sees room to maneuver is in partnerships. Reuters reported on Wednesday that American and Alaska are in early-stage discussions about deepening their relationship, potentially by including Alaska in American's transatlantic and transpacific joint business arrangements, according to two people familiar with the matter. American and Alaska already operate a partnership built around codesharing, reciprocal loyalty benefits and West Coast connectivity into international routes, which they have described as a "West Coast International Alliance."
Isom said American believes there is scope to deepen ties with Alaska while remaining inside existing labor agreement constraints.
Labor and union concerns
The prospect of expanding the partnership has already drawn pushback from American's pilot union, which warned it would "vigorously defend" contract protections tied to code-sharing. The union added that, "Pursuing a plan to have more of our flying done by another airline is not a path to making American Airlines a globally competitive airline." Isom responded by saying any expansion would adhere to the limits imposed by those labor agreements.
Investor-facing note included in call materials
The earnings materials also included a third-party styled investor prompt asking, "Should you invest $2,000 in UAL right now?" and describing a product named ProPicks AI that evaluates UAL against many companies using over 100 financial metrics. The text indicated the tool analyzes fundamentals, momentum and valuation to identify risk-reward opportunities, and referenced past examples of stocks it named without asserting endorsement by American Airlines management.
For now, American's leadership is emphasizing defense of its hub operations and pursuing partnerships rather than consolidation through a merger with United. The company is watching how federal actions at O'Hare and its own talks with partners such as Alaska evolve before taking further strategic steps.