American Airlines is reorganizing senior management as CEO Robert Isom tries to narrow the carrier's profit gap with Delta Air Lines and United Airlines while addressing what he called a "meaningful gap" in performance. Former Spirit Airlines Chief Operating Officer John Bendoraitis will join to lead technical operations, while Nat Pieper, Heather Garboden, JC Gulbranson, Caroline Clayton and Steve Neuman are taking on broader duties; Chief Communications Officer Ron DeFeo is stepping down and Garboden, Gulbranson, Clayton and Neuman will join the senior leadership team. The overhaul comes after American beat second-quarter 2026 estimates with adjusted earnings per share of 15 cents on revenue of $16.735 billion, but said projected fuel costs had risen by more than $700 million for the third quarter and nearly $1.6 billion for the rest of 2026 compared with early July levels, leaving it expecting roughly break-even results for the year. Delta and United, by contrast, still anticipate solid profits, with a July analysis showing Delta outearned American by roughly $5 billion and United by about $3 billion, underscoring investor scrutiny of American's cost structure and execution.