Airlines are known to switch up their schedules every so often for any number of reasons, but over the past two years, these changes have become unavoidable. Passengers are certainly feeling the heat now, as major U.S. carriers are struggling even more amid an ever-increasing demand for travel. In fact, nearly 3,000 flights across the country were canceled during Memorial Day weekend alone, according to NPR. These last-minute cancellations come from bad weather, air traffic control delays, and staff shortages—but the challenges have been ongoing, leading airlines to make bigger, more permanent flight cuts. American Airlines just confirmed that it is planning to pare down its fall schedule by dropping three major flight routes. Read on to find out what flights are getting axed.
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U.S. airlines have been paring down their schedules for months now.
ShutterstockMassive flight cuts have been occurring across the board over the last year for major U.S. carriers. No airline appears to be immune. In Nov. 2021, American Airlines announced a huge overhaul for 2022, dropping 27 different flight routes from its service for the first half of the year. In April, Delta Air Lines revealed plans to pare down its flight schedule later this year, with five different cities getting axed in September. And just last month, United Airlines confirmed that it was cutting flights to eight major cities throughout the entire month of June, if not longer.
American is now planning flight cuts for the fall.
Santiparp Wattanaporn/ShutterstockAmerican is the latest carrier that has confirmed an upcoming overhaul to its schedule. On May 26, the Texas-based airline sent an internal memo outlining updates to its international routes, which includes several cuts, the Points Guy reported. Three currently-running flights are getting dropped on Nov. 3. This includes one route from Dallas, Texas, to Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, Peru; and two Colombian routes from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York City: Medellin and Cali.
The carrier said "reduced demand" for these routes is the reasoning behind these cancellations. But American will still be serving all three of these cities from its hub in Miami, Florida.
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The carrier is also holding off on bringing some routes back.
iStockAmerican was set to bring back its service from Seattle to Bangalore, India, this year for the first time since 2012 after its return was delayed by the pandemic. But according to the Points Guy, the airline has decided to postpone once again—this time because of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
"Over the weekend, we paused the launch of scheduled service between Seattle and Bengaluru, India, until Summer 2023. The safety of our customers and team members is American’s top priority," the carrier said in a statement. "As this route requires flying through airspace currently involved in a military conflict, we postponed the flight out of an abundance of caution. We’re proactively reaching out to customers scheduled to travel on affected dates to offer alternate options."
American will also not be resuming its flights from the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to Beijing and from Seattle to Shanghai until the summer of 2023. And the carrier is going back on its plans to fly from Dallas to Tel Aviv, Israel, altogether as well, saying this "difficult decision" was made because of "soft demand."
But American is still adding some flights to its schedule.
iStockIt's not all bad news, however. American Airlines is also planning to add some flights to its fall schedule. According to the Points Guy, the carrier will now serve the Auckland Airport (AKL) in New Zealand from Dallas, from Oct. 29 through March 25, 2023. This airport was previously serviced by the carrier from Los Angeles before it was suspended throughout the pandemic.
"Providing service to DFW allows us to connect more customers to New Zealand with a more convenient schedule," American said in a statement. "The DFW-AKL flight will operate daily with a Boeing 787-9 aircraft."
American is also getting ready to resume seasonal service from Miami to Carrasco International Airport (MVD) in Montevideo, Uruguay. According to the Points Guy, this route will start operating three times weekly between Oct. 30 and March 25, 2023. But between Dec. 14 and Jan. 1, 2023, the route will increase to daily service.
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