By Claudia Assis
The stock is down more than any other U.S. airline stock this week, and frustration has mounted among American's passengers
An American Airlines jet at New York's LaGuardia airport on Sunday. The airline has struggled more than others to recover from the recent winter storm.
As U.S. airlines dig themselves out of the snow and ice this week, American Airlines seems to be mired in a storm of its own making.
American (AAL) is still struggling to recover, with the dubious honor on Wednesday of leading flight cancellations in the aftermath of the massive storm that brought huge quantities of snow and ice to a swath of the country stretching from Texas to Massachusetts.
American canceled 10,569 flights from Friday to Tuesday, or 39% of its scheduled flights, according to aviation analytics company Cirium. Delta, meanwhile, canceled 18% of its flights and United canceled 15.5%. Overall, U.S. airlines canceled 22,013 flights because of the storm, Cirium said.
American topped the board again on Wednesday, with 483 flights canceled, along with more than 160 flights canceled by a regional partner, according to FlightAware.
In addition to the storm, this week American reported its first quarterly financial miss after six quarters of beating Wall Street expectations.It said the storm could lower revenue by up to $200 million in the current quarter.
Last week, American and Frontier were singled out by the Wall Street Journal as the worst airlines of 2025. &#34;American rarely shines in our rankings, but 2025 was particularly ugly,&#34; the Journal said.
On social media, angry customers vowed to never again fly American, and some highlighted that even crew members were having trouble getting where they needed to go. One of the airline's unions this week called for the ouster of Chief Executive Robert Isom.
The storm hobbled several of American's major hubs, including Dallas, which was pummeled early on by ice and freezing rain. Charlotte, N.C., was also hit hard by the winter storm.
But despite Tuesday's profit and revenue miss, Wall Street so far has kept its faith in the company. No major research analysts changed their ratings this week on American's stock. Many of those analyst rate the stock a buy but generally have American in third place on their &#34;best of&#34; lists relative to rivals United Airlines (UAL) and Delta Air Lines (DAL), which were early to court more profitable travelers.
U.S. airlines have faced several headline-grabbing flight disruptions in recent years, among them Southwest in December 2022 and United over the July 4 weekend in 2023. But they made significant investments in technology and became more resilient as a result, said Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst with Atmosphere Research Group.
With some crew members having trouble connecting to American's scheduling system, Harteveldt said he can't understand why the airline hasn't made &#34;some of the same investments and somehow has allowed itself to be thrown off track by the storm and for so long.&#34;
American &#34;is not in a position of strength as a business&#34; to weather the reputational hit, which may further weaken customer preference for the airline, at least in the short term. It may be &#34;close to a breaking point. its board of directors need to wake up and realize that they can't skimp on investments,&#34; Harteveldt said.
&#34;American will be left competing primarily on price, and that's not the way to become successful,&#34; he said, as United and Delta stake claims on premium fares and perks.
American says it is digging itself out. &#34;Teams across American continue to work around the clock to fully restore our operation,&#34; the airline said in its most recent statement about the storm. &#34;Cancellations are not what we want for our customers or our team members, and teams across the airline are working diligently to minimize them.&#34;
For Wall Street, one highlight is that American has been paying down debt and projected more than $2 billion in free cash flow this year, with the goal of bringing its debt under $35 billion by the end of the year, one year ahead of a previous target.
American's investments in its products, brand and network &#34;should bearfruit in 2026,&#34; analysts at Deutsche Bank said in a note Wednesday.
Other analysts liked that American has already included the storm's effects and some conservatism in its guidance for the current quarter. But analysts at UBS struck a more cautious tone, highlighting &#34;competitive concerns,&#34; with American and United locked in a fight for slots at Chicago's O'Hare airport.
Then there are the calls for leadership change. Isom took the CEO job in March 2022, but for many he hasn't yet made his mark in the industry like other airline CEOs. United's Scott Kirby is seen as a bold, straightforward leader, while Delta's Ed Bastian is viewed as financially astute executive, reaping the benefits of a solid background in finance.
&#34;A lot of people feel that Robert Isom is maybe over his head,&#34; Harteveldt said.
On Tuesday, American's flight attendants union called for leadership changes at the airline, saying it is &#34;years behind&#34; competitors and has ignored investments in its product and in customer experience.
American did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the union's contentions.
The stock recovered some ground on Wednesday, but it has been hit harder than any other U.S. airline stock taahis week, posting losses of more than 8% through Wednesday. In comparison, shares of Delta and United have declined closer to 3% so far this week.
American's shares have lost 22.5% in the past 12 months, contrasting with gains of 5.8% for the U.S. Global Jets exchange-traded fund JETS and 15.5% for the S&amp;P 500 index SPX in the same period.
-Claudia Assis
This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones &amp; Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-29-26 0752ET

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<p>American Airlines faced a challenging week with over 10,000 flight cancellations due to a severe winter storm, leading to a projected revenue loss of $200 million. The airline's stock has dropped significantly, and it reported its first quarterly financial miss in six quarters. Despite the turmoil, Wall Street analysts have maintained their ratings, with some viewing the airline's investments as potentially beneficial in the long term. However, there are growing calls for leadership changes as customer dissatisfaction rises and competitive pressures increase.</p>

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10,000 flights canceled, a $200 million hit from the storm and a plunging stock: American Airlines' bad week