American Airlines overhauls leadership amid profit struggles

American Airlines has revealed a series of leadership changes as CEO Robert Isom moves to address what he described internally as a significant performance gap compared with competitors Delta Air Lines and United Airlines. In a memo to staff, Isom characterized the reshuffle as the first step in a broader effort to improve execution across the carrier.

Under the changes, Chief Commercial Officer Nat Pieper will take on additional responsibility for marketing and branding, while Chief Customer Officer Heather Garboden will assume oversight of reservations and service recovery. JC Gulbranson is being given added responsibility for airports and planning. Both Garboden and Gulbranson will join the airline's senior leadership team.

Former Spirit Airlines Chief Operating Officer John Bendoraitis has been brought in to lead technical operations at American. Meanwhile, Chief Communications Officer Ron DeFeo is departing his role, with Caroline Clayton taking over communications and Steve Neuman assuming leadership of government affairs; both will also join the senior leadership team.

The restructuring comes as American continues to lag behind Delta and United on profitability. The airline has said it expects roughly break-even financial results for 2026, citing rising fuel costs, and earlier this year warned that higher jet fuel prices could add more than $4 billion to its expenses relative to prior forecasts.

The leadership shake-up also follows pressure from labor groups. The Association of Professional Flight Attendants issued a unanimous vote of no confidence in Isom in February, citing concerns about the airline's competitiveness, profitability and operational performance, and has called for his resignation. The Allied Pilots Association has reportedly raised similar concerns, according to the source material.