You might notice American Airlines flight attendants wearing more union pins going forward, and that has some symbolic significance…

American flight attendants wage “WAR” on Robert Isom

American CEO Robert Isom isn’t very popular at the moment, especially among employees. A little over a month ago, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), which represents the Fort Worth-based carrier’s 28,000 flight attendants, issued a vote of no confidence in Isom, the first time the union has ever done that.

While the union wants Isom replaced, it’s clear that’s not happening any time soon, as the Board of Directors (of which Isom is the Chairman) has refused to take action.

As the latest development in an escalating situation, the APFA has now asked its members to start wearing union pins and lanyards, as a sign of solidarity against Isom. Specifically, flight attendants are being asked to wear the “WAR” pins that they wore during their last round of contract negotiations, which wrapped up in 2024.

“WAR” stands for “We Are Ready,” and refers to flight attendants being prepared to go on strike during the prolonged contract negotiations that we saw at the time (actually going on strike is very difficult, but that’s the vibe they wanted to go with). Just to be 100% clear, there’s no strike on the horizon here, but wearing these “WAR” lanyards is supposed to be symbolic.

Here’s the memo the union published for members:

The future of American Airlines is at stake.

American’s continued poor financial and operational performance is all too familiar to those of us who have been at American Airlines or its predecessor airlines for years, and the writing is on the wall:

Flight Attendants will not accept wage and work-rule concessions to rescue failing top leadership. We have sacrificed before, and we will not be asked to do it again to cover for strategic missteps at the top. It is time to course correct and move this airline in a fundamentally different direction with bold, visionary leadership that knows how to compete, not just cut.

As we continue this effort, Solidarity and visibility matter. Flight Attendants are encouraged to wear the red APFA pin that many of us saved from negotiations as a visible sign of Unity. If you do not have your red pin, please make sure to wear any APFA lapel pin and your APFA blue lanyard every time you come to work.

Your Base President/ Vice President will have pins and blue lanyards available. You may also visit the APFA Solidarity Shop for pins, lanyards, t-shirts, and more!

Every visible show of solidarity demonstrates that Flight Attendants stand together and remain engaged as we hold leadership accountable and fight for the future of our careers at American Airlines.

Good on the union for keeping the pressure going!

Regardless of your opinion on unions, I think most people can agree that American could use a leadership change, and a fresh perspective. So I commend the union for keeping its campaign going, and applying pressure. Ultimately these pins and lanyards are subtle, so I’m curious to see how widespread their use becomes.

It reminds me of the late 2000s (what a time!), when former United CEO Glenn Tilton was incredibly unpopular with employees. In protest of him, employees (and supportive customers) wore orange “Glenn’s Gotta Go” wristbands.

There were also “Vocal Minority” wristbands, referring to Tilton’s comments that only a vocal minority of employees weren’t happy with his leadership. The use of these wristbands was widespread, and there was nothing subtle about the messaging there.

Unfortunately I suspect that Isom has just bought himself some more time at the head of the airline. Isom was promising much better results in 2026, and insisted that 2025 was just an exception (in a negative way). Of course now with war in the Middle East and high oil prices, he’ll have more of an excuse for lackluster performance.

Bottom line

American’s flight attendant union is now requesting that members wear pins and lanyards from back when a new contract was being renegotiated, and flight attendants had voted to authorized a strike. While these pins and lanyards aren’t directly relevant now, the intent is that these show solidarity against management.

The union had called on CEO Robert Isom to be replaced (as have many other groups), but that doesn’t appear to be happening.

What do you make of this APFA pin and lanyard initiative?