Over the weekend I wrote about the American Airlines pilots union creating their own trading cards that pilots could hand out to customers, because American itself had done it – while it’s something that Delta, United, Alaska and Spirit Airlines offer. The union was both providing a service to pilots and trolling management at the same time.
Well, American actually is now launching their own pilot trading cards, and they’re tying it to their 100th anniversary.
We’ve been waiting for a moment like this. 💯🎉
To celebrate our 100th anniversary, American trading cards are taking flight.
Starting soon, pilots will be sharing collectible cards featuring some of the aircraft from our current fleet, plus special centennial editions honoring… pic.twitter.com/IR7r10oYWe
— americanair (@AmericanAir) April 15, 2026
American is celebrating this milestone today, but suggesting that the tie-in may be mere convenience, the cards aren’t actually ready. Availability of the cards will be ‘starting soon’. This is a little bit awkward because customers are being told they can ask pilots for the cards but aren’t being told when pilots will have the cards to hand out.
Still, this is very much a sign that American Airlines is beginning to do some of the things that they’ve gotten so behind on over the past decade. For instance,
- More and nicer lounges
- More business and first class seats
- More customer-friendly rules (like restoring access for all customers to standby at the gate)
- Better onboard coffee, which is now available in lounges and across their flights
There’s still much to do. Strategic fumbles like retiring too many aircraft during the pandemic left them poorly positioned to compete in places like Chicago. They need a widebody aircraft order, but delivery slots are scarce (which could leave them only the option of new Airbus A330s – an aircraft type they retired six years ago in order to simplify the fleet).
And top executives need to be out evangelizing a vision for the airline to front line employees, customers, and investors. They need to show real fight, a real aggressive strategy to grow, and to capture the loyalty of customers who will fly the most, at the highest fares, and with the most spend on their cobrand credit cards.
Here’s CEO Robert Isom out front with a birthday message celebrating the airline’s 100 years. I won’t be around for the next 100, but I do think American has great potential and the shifts they’ve begun making over the past 12 months are quite positive. What we need is a vision – if not for 100 years, then for the next 5 – of where they’re headed and who they want to become that everyone can rally around.
Here’s the 100th anniversary merchandise from the American Airlines Brand Store.
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