American Airlines Is Hurting From The Winter Storm Fern

American Airlines has confirmed expected yet still bad news as it battles to recover following a Winter Storm which has affected operations over the last week.

Winter Storm Fern is projected to have a revenue impact of $150 million to $200 million, as confirmed by the airline’s CEO, Robert Isom, who labelled it one of the most significant impacts the airline has seen, with over 9,000 cancellations.

The airline’s bleak forecast of the storm’s impact follows the publication of fourth-quarter results and additional Q1 2026 guidance.

Q4 2025: Record Revenue But Some Troubles

American Airlines’ Q4 2025 earnings were mixed but aligned with what had been widely reported throughout 2025, which was a more challenging year than the airline would’ve liked.

However, positive outliers included the airline welcoming record revenues of $14 billion during the quarter, which represented a 2.5% year-over-year increase driven primarily by strong passenger growth.

Full-year revenue, meanwhile, reached $54.6 billion; these figures are deemed positive despite a U.S. government shutdown that affected performance in specific markets. Full-year capacity also increased 6.5%.

On the positive side, there were also struggles that American Airlines continues to seek to overcome, with operating income down as cost pressures outpaced overall revenue, and debt remaining high.

Strong January For American Airlines Despite Storm

Similarly, to compete across the United States, American Airlines is seeing strong demand for bookings this month. This comes after the fourth quarter didn’t live up to expectations.

Bookings have strengthened, and the airline says revenue intake across the first three weeks of the calendar year is up double digits from the same period one year prior. Premium cabins and portable channels have been driving performance.

Beyond this, the airline expects the first quarter to see positive unit revenue for the domestic entity, with total revenue growing in the 7%-10% range.

Closing Gap With Delta & United In 2026

2026 will be another year of American Airlines attempting to build stability across its business after a slower-than-expected recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, during which it has noticeably fallen behind its competitors, Delta and United Airlines.

For years, the business has limited expenditure in the hope that operations would stabilise. Still, it now recognises it must move forward and place greater emphasis on growth and customers to avoid further market-share losses.

Shifts to enhance the premium product through new Boeing 787-9s and A321XLRs will be a big part of the airline’s fleet transition and drive revenue across markets.

Even from a financial standpoint, American Airlines has been lagging behind its two U.S. competitors, with customer satisfaction levels lower and premium travel options highlighted more prominently in recent quarterly results.

Bottom Line: Mixed Results But Positive Outlook

American Airlines posted record revenue in Q4 2025 despite pressures, but bad news followed the Winter Storm Fern, with a $150M-$200M hit to Q1’s results expected.

Despite this, the airline is confident that 2026 will see improvements, with a surge in January bookings alongside stronger performance in premium travel, suggesting the recovery is around the corner as it tries to close the gap with competitors.