Stranded at Miami International Airport since 3 am and stuck on hold for hours trying to get hold of the crew scheduling department at American Airlines, was how one exhausted flight attendant found out the carrier had announced a profit-sharing bonus of just 0.3%.
And she was far from the only crew member to receive the news of the widely criticized bonus after enduring mammoth duty days as the Fort Worth-based carrier stares down the barrel of a massive operational meltdown.
American Airlines announced 03.% profit sharing bonus
Despite mass cancellations triggered by Winter Storm Fern over the weekend, the executive team at American Airlines decided to go ahead with a scheduled presentation announcing the carrier’s annual results on Tuesday.
As chief executive Robert Isom and other leaders at the airline gathered in the plush (and warm) surroundings of AA’s multi-million-dollar ‘Skyview’ headquarters in Forth Worth, thousands of frontline staffers were battling with the emerging operational crisis.
Perhaps some much-needed relief would come in the form of a profit-sharing announcement? When the news dropped, however, it was less a reason for celebration and more one to provoke fury.
Flight attendants and thousands of other workers discovered that their profit-sharing bonus would be just 0.3% of their eligible earnings.
American Airlines provided an example of someone who earned $50,000 in 2025, taking home a bonus of just $150.
“You have to be profitable to get profit sharing, and with that said Idk how AA’s upper management is still even allowed to be employed,” one angry crew member slammed in a message viewed by PYOK.
Another added, “Why is this so much worse than zero? They should have held a pizza party at this point.”
How does this compare with Delta and United?
Other flight attendants were, however, quick to point out that to get a profit-sharing bonus, an airline has to be profitable, and that’s something that American Airlines is struggling with.
Isom was quick to boast record fourth-quarter revenue of $14.0 billion, bringing the carrier’s total revenue for 2025 to $54.6 billion, but with operating expenses coming to $53.2 billion, it doesn’t leave much left in profit.
American’s poor performance for 2025 is in stark contrast to its two big rivals, Delta and United Airlines.
Earlier this month, Delta announced a total profit-sharing fund of $1.3 billion, equating to an 8.9% payout per eligible worker, which, on average, is the equivalent of four weeks of extra pay.
Meanwhile, United Airlines announced a profit-sharing bonus equivalent to around 4.5% of annual wages.
American Airlines is suffering an operational meltdown
What’s particularly upsetting for frontline workers at American Airlines is that the profit-sharing bonus was announced as the carrier is dealing with its fifth straight day of massive operational disruption from Winter Storm Fern.
American Airlines cancelled far more flights than any of its rivals over the weekend, but if that was an intentional plan to then be able to quickly ramp up operations once the worst of the storm had passed, it hasn’t worked.
On Tuesday, American Airlines had already cancelled nearly 1,900 flights, representing over 55% of its entire daily schedule. A further 900 flights are delayed, and the situation is just as bad at American’s regional subsidiaries, according to data supplied by Flight Aware.
Like so many operational meltdowns, American Airlines is not only struggling from the root cause (the weather in this case) but also because it is losing track of where is pilots and flight attendants are throughout its network.
Flight crew are being dumped in airports without hotel accommodation and then expected to hold for hours on the phone as they attempt to get in touch with the airline, just to let someone know where they are.
Chief customer officer apologizes to passengers
Hopefully, the airline can quickly get on top of the unfolding meltdown, although chief customer officer Heather Garboden has already sent a note to frequent flyers, apologizing for the continued disruption.
“On behalf of everyone at American, I want to assure you it’s been all hands on deck to keep our operation moving,” Garboden wrote.
“We are very sorry for the disruption this weather event has caused, and we thank our team members — many of whom are working overtime and are continuing to safely brave the weather — as they focus on taking care of as many customers as possible.”
As you can see, Garboden is putting a lot of emphasis on frontline employees going above and beyond to get the airline back up and running. Some workers, however, say they will match their work effort to the profit-sharing bonus – a sign of just how badly Tuesday’s announcement has landed.
