Just recently Robert Isom, who served as American Airlines’ President, was named as the next CEO of the company and will be in duty on April 1. Their previous CEO, Doug Parker, retired after 20 years in office. Isom and Parker worked together for quite some time, and now Isom gets to head the company this spring.

Prior to American Airlines, Isom worked a gig with Procter & Gamble and chose this opportunity over pursuing his masters degree in business administration. Shortly after that, he paved his way into the aviation industry and worked a couple of jobs in the operations, revenue management, and finance departments. His next step in his career is with American Airlines, where he will serve as the Chief Executive Officer.

American Airlines has over 30,000 employees stationed in the U.S and over 125,000 globally. They make a majority of their flights out of Dallas-Fort Worth region and is responsible for over 80% of the flights in and out of the airport. American Airlines is one of the largest active airlines in the United States, and will likely remain so for quite some time.

Helane Becker, an Airline industry analyst, provided some insight on the new promotion and what it means for American Airlines. “We do not expect much to change at American when Mr. Isom becomes CEO, but that said, we think he will focus on operations (his wheelhouse) and work toward returning American to an industry-leading position… His operations background suggests to us a focus on improving on-time performance and other aspects of the operations (think baggage handling, aircraft inductions, etc.).”

Much of Isom’s time at American Airlines involved integrating US Airways and American Airlines into one company and improving the operations of the merger.

Doug Parker, prior CEO of American Airlines, left a message about the future prospects of American Airlines and Isom’s promotion. “I cannot imagine a more well-suited or well-prepared person to be taking the reins than Robert.”