American Airlines CEO Jabs Back After Attack By United CEO

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American Airlines CEO Robert Isom on Thursday countered recent negative comments by United’s CEO, saying, “We don’t run our airline based on other airlines’ perception of our business”

Speaking on American’s second quarter earnings call, Isom also noted that the carrier is growing at Chicago O’Hare. While United regularly touts its market dominance at ORD, Isom called the airport “a tremendous opportunity for American,” which had cut back on regional subsidiary flying due to the pilot shortage.

“You’ll see Chicago hit 485 peak departures, over 500 as we take a look into next year.” Isom said. At ORD, United currently has about 500 daily departures to 200 destinations, while American has about 480 daily departures to 160 destinations.

What did United Executives Say About American Airlines?

Isom spoke on American’s second quarter earnings call, the last of the earnings calls by the big three carriers. A week earlier, on the United earnings call, CEO Scott Kirby said that the U.S. airline sector has “two brand loyal airlines really winning and everybody else losing.” He identified United and Delta as the two winners.

Kirby added that “If I dig deeper into it and I look at every airline that’s not named United or Delta, I can find at every single one of them, a double-digit percentage of their route network that loses money.”

Later on the United call, Andrew Nocella, chief operating officer, noted “documented share gains in each of our hubs:” O’Hare is arguably the airport where American is best poised to fight back.

American’s Network Is 70% Domestic, More Than Peers’

Isom responded to a question from JP Morgan analyst Jamie Baker, who referred to Kirby’s statement and asked, “Give us an approximation – What overall percentage of American flying loses money?”

Isom did not directly respond to that question. However, he noted two “primary differentiators between us and some of our competitors.”

One is that American is 70% domestic, the largest share among the three global carriers. “We do have a network that we’re proud to say is more oriented towards the domestic network” Isom said. American repeatedly explained its second quarter underperformance by citing domestic concentration at a time when international flying is more profitable. Isom cited, “The reluctance of domestic passengers to get in the game” and said “We think that’s going to change.”

Isom Said American Pays “Market Wages,” While Others Don’t

The second differentiator Isom cited is that “We are paying our team members at market wages. Others are benefitting from not doing that.”

Isom seemed to refer to United’s flight attendant contract, which is currently out for ratification by members. American Airlines did not respond to a request for clarification.

While American flight attendants currently have a better contract, United’s second quarter results included $561 million to pay flight attendants signing bonuses. Moreover, United CFO Mike Leskinen noted that his cost estimate for the third and fourth quarters includes the cost of a flight attendant contract. The total cost of the contract is about $6 billion over five years, so United’s second quarter spending on signing bonuses is arguably more than the quarterly cost of the contract.

Possibly Isom was referring to the wages that Delta pays its mechanics and fleet service workers. They are non-union: The International Association of Machinists and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters are seeking to organize the two groups, respectively, while the Association of Flight Attendants is seeking to organize Delta flight attendants.

Isom and Kirby, who once worked together at US Airways, have traded barbs over the past year.

“It’s like parents yelling at a little league game,” said Dennis Tajer, spokesman for Allied Pilots Association, which represents American pilots. ted