Airlines Barely Profit Flying You. The Credit Card Is the Real Business.

American Airlines carried about 224 million passengers in 2025 and kept about 50 cents of profit per passenger. In the same year, American Express paid Delta $8.2 billion, more than Delta's entire operating profit. We follow two dollars, one from a plane ticket and one from a grocery-store card swipe, through the 2025 annual reports of Delta, United and American. Along the way: why the airlines pledged their frequent flyer programs to borrow billions in 2020, the $27.6 billion of unredeemed miles on their books, and the receipt for where each dollar goes. Figures are from each airline's FY2025 Form 10-K (calendar 2025) unless noted. "Computed" means our arithmetic on reported figures. Delta's per-dollar figures leave out its outside oil-refinery sales, as Delta's own adjusted figures do. Card payments are cash received, not profit. The 2-cents-a-mile price is United's own illustrative example from a 2020 lender presentation; no airline publishes what banks actually pay. United's $21.9B MileagePlus figure is United's own estimate (12x 2019 earnings), not an independent appraisal. CHAPTERS 0:00 Fifty cents a passenger 0:44 The Cash Machine 1:02 The ticket dollar 2:57 The grocery dollar 5:46 The pawn shop: borrowing against miles in 2020 7:32 The IOU in your app 8:51 The receipt 9:53 Next machine SOURCES Delta Air Lines Form 10-K, FY2025. Total revenue $63,364M ($58,287M without third-party refinery sales); operating income $5,822M; net income $5,005M; American Express remuneration $8.2B; cash sales from marketing agreements $8.0B; loyalty program revenue $3,362M; SkyMiles deferred revenue $9.3B; air traffic liability $7,157M; operating cost lines for the receipt. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... Delta Form 10-Q, Q3 2026 (American Express remuneration $6.9B in the nine months, +14%): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... Delta Form 10-K, FY2020 (2020 net loss $12.4B; 2019 marketing cash sales $4.2B; June 30, 2020 market value of public stock ~$17.9B): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... Delta 8-K, Sept 25, 2020 (SkyMiles Financing: $2.5B + $3.5B notes, $3.0B term loan; covenants): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... United Airlines Holdings Form 10-K, FY2025. Revenue $59,070M; operating income $4,713M; net income $3,353M; 181M passengers; $3.2B partner-agreement revenue in other operating revenue; MileagePlus debt fully repaid in July 2025. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... United 8-K, June 15, 2020 (MileagePlus valuation ~$21.9B = 12x 2019 EBITDA) and lender presentation (illustrative 2¢ / 1¢ per mile; award-pricing levers): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... United 8-K, July 2, 2020 ($3.8B notes + $3.0B term loan secured by MileagePlus): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... United Form 10-K, FY2020 (June 30, 2020 market value of public stock $10.0B): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... American Airlines Group Form 10-K, FY2025. Revenue $54,633M; operating income $1,467M; pre-tax income $190M; net income $111M; ~224M passengers; co-brand and partner cash $6.2B; loyalty marketing revenue $3,511M; loyalty liability $10,564M; 1,580 aircraft; AAdvantage debt outstanding; card-legislation risk factor. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... American 8-Ks: Treasury loan secured by AAdvantage (Sept 25, 2020) and the $10.0B AAdvantage Financing (March 24, 2021): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... American Form 10-K, FY2020 (June 30, 2020 market value of public stock ~$6.6B): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... Music: original score by The Cash Machine. Not financial advice. This video is for education and entertainment. No airline, bank or card company sponsored this video. #Airlines #CreditCards #Business