Airlines Confidential · Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Oscar Munoz highlighted a dramatic divergence in market capitalization among major US airlines over the past decade. Delta's stock has risen 141%, United's 126%, while American Airlines' stock has fallen 61%. Delta is valued at $55 billion, United at $36 billion, and American at only $9 billion, significantly trailing competitors. This disparity is attributed to factors beyond revenue growth, including management strategy and consistency, as suggested by their differing profit margins.
“Over the past 10 years, Delta stock is up 141% and United is up 126%. And American, it's down 61%, down by a lot.”
“Delta ranks number 458 in market cap among companies globally. Uh, United's number 694. These are the biggest airlines in the world, right? Uh, and American, number 2,192.”
“This year, Delta's expected to be around 5.8% net profit margin. And remember, we're dealing with high oil prices. Uh, United about the same at 5.6% or so. And American, oh my, less than 1% net profit margin.”