American’s Chief Customer Officer Heather Garboden apologizes for major travel disruptions caused by Winter Storm Fern. Five hubs, especially DFW, were heavily impacted by record conditions and staffing challenges. She thanks employees working through the storm and urges customers to check the app or aa.com for updates and flexible travel options. (Image: American Airlines)
January 27, 2026
Press Release
A note to customers from Heather Garboden, American’s Chief Customer Officer
The last 48 hours have been incredibly challenging for those flying through Winter Storm Fern, which continues to present travel challenges across the country. On behalf of everyone at American, I want to assure you it’s been all hands on deck to keep our operation moving.
Five of our nine hubs have been significantly impacted by this large and disruptive storm. Our largest hub at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), which touches a significant number of the flights we operate each day, was hit particularly hard with record-setting conditions. Fern is also impacting cities that don’t typically have the infrastructure in place to manage these conditions, which in turn has led to staffing issues as team members plus vendor and federal partners struggle to make their way on the roads.
We are very sorry for the disruption this weather event has caused, and we thank our team members — many of whom are working overtime and are continuing to safely brave the weather — as they focus on taking care of as many customers as possible.
As you travel this week, we encourage you to check the American Airlines app and aa.com for the latest flight status and to take advantage of the additional flexibility we’ve offered by the travel alertsissued earlier for Winter Storm Fern.
Thank you for choosing American and for your patience as we work diligently to get you safely where you need to be.
Heather Garboden
Chief Customer Officer, American Airlines
