Those are just a few items that American CEO Robert Isom and other executives outlined during the airline’s fourth-quarter earnings call Thursday. The outlook is mostly bright with, as Isom put it, “robust demand across the board” for air travel.
But even those positive words and modest profits in the fourth quarter and full year of 2024 were not enough to appease investors. American's forecast of a first-quarter loss — historically the weakest quarter of the calendar year for U.S. airlines — sent the airline’s stock down nearly 9% to $17.03 per share on Thursday.
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“I really feel like we’ve got all the pieces in the puzzle in place to really take off,” said Isom. “Now, we’ve got some work to do putting that together and selling, and telling our story better, but we are the largest in the best market in the world here in the U.S.”
Here are five key takeaways from American’s earnings call.
American will debut its new Flagship Suites
American plans to introduce its new Flagship Suite business-class seats on new Airbus A321XLR and Boeing 787-9 planes later this year, Isom said. The suites are part of a larger investment in premium offerings that includes new premium economy seats and other onboard upgrades.
First unveiled in 2022 as part of the boom in premium — particularly premium leisure — travel demand following the pandemic, the new Flagship Suites were supposed to enter service in 2024. However, the numerous supply chain issues that continue to plague the aerospace industry delayed their debut to this year.
The new seats and cabins will also be installed on American’s largest aircraft, the Boeing 777-300ER, at a later date. Isom did not offer an updated timeline for the retrofits that were previously set to begin in late 2024.
As part of the cabin upgrades, American will retire the Flagship First product that it currently offers on its small fleet of premium transcontinental Airbus A321s — the A321Ts — that flies between New York and both Los Angeles and San Francisco, and on the 777-300ER. The airline does not yet have a date for the final flight of Flagship First.
Philadelphia will get a Flagship Lounge
American plans to open a new Flagship Lounge at its Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) hub this summer, Isom said. The lounge will be in the A-West terminal used by American’s international flights and available only to travelers booked in long-haul international first or business class, as well as certain elite frequent flyers.
The lounge comes as American builds back its Philadelphia gateway. It will add new nonstops to Edinburgh and Milan from the airport this summer that, coupled with other international capacity increases, will result in more long-haul flights and seats from Philadelphia during the peak June-to-August period for the first time since the summer of 2019, schedule data from aviation analytics firm Cirium Diio shows.
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American will complete its postpandemic schedule recovery
Philadelphia is not the only American hub set for a full recovery this year. The airline plans to focus its “low single digit” capacity growth in 2025, as Chief Financial Officer Devon May put it Thursday, on recovery of its northern hubs, including at Chicago's O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and Philadelphia.
This recovery will be driven by the return of regional jets that were idled early in the pandemic, and complemented with the delivery of 40 to 50 new airplanes in 2025, May said.
“It’s no secret that we have had to build back our network,” said Isom. “I feel great that in 2025 we’re going to have our regional fleet fully deployed, and what that’s going to allow us to do is better fill out some of the hubs that are, quite frankly, ready and willing to support the network.”
In 2024, flights at American’s Chicago and Philadelphia hubs were down by about a quarter from five years earlier, Cirium Diio data shows.
High-speed Wi-Fi is coming to American’s regional jets
American plans to begin, and finish, the installation of new high-speed, satellite Wi-Fi on its two-class regional jets in 2025. This includes the Embraer E170s and E175s, and CRJ-700s and -900s in the American Eagle fleet.
“We’re really interested that our customers have access to Wi-Fi, satellite-based Wi-Fi, on everything that they fly,” said Isom.
American’s fleet of single-class regional jets — Embraer ERJ-145s — will not receive the new high-speed inflight connectivity.
Asked by Wall Street analysts if American was reconsidering its stance on in-seat entertainment screens, Isom said the airline will upgrade its in-seat entertainment offerings on long-haul aircraft, including the A321XLR and 787, but has no plans to offer the popular entertainment option on its domestic narrow-body fleet.
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Optimism for air traffic control improvements
“It’s imperative that we keep investing in air traffic control,” Isom said when asked his view of the new Trump administration in Washington. “There’s a lot of growth that is hoped for in the industry but we can’t [just] keep on jamming more aircraft in the skies.”
“President Trump and the administration recognize the importance of the industry to commerce,” he added.
While Isom did not elaborate on what air traffic control investments should look like, President Donald Trump has previously supported proposals to privatize the air traffic control system. Investments could also include the long-discussed and much-delayed “NextGen” upgrades that include modern, GPS-based flight tracking systems.
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