Though it can be easy to get frustrated with them, major airlines have a lot on their plates when it comes to daily operations. After all, they're expected to provide reliable customer service and a comfortable travel experience, all while maintaining their bottom line. Unfortunately, this sometimes means that service maps and schedules can shift when the demand for tickets changes or other complications arise. And now, American and JetBlue are cutting flights to dozens of cities, starting this month. Read on for the details and to see if your travel plans could be impacted.
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American Airlines is significantly cutting its service to and from Austin, Texas.
GagliardiPhotography / ShutterstockAccording to information posted to flight data website Cirium, American Airlines appears to be cutting back on its operations at Austin-Bergstrom Airport (AUS). Schedule changes first noted by X user (formerly known as Twitter) @AdrianWaltz show that the carrier will be dropping at least 21 of the routes it currently services for the Texas capital beginning in January.
The first round of cuts will see flights between AUS and Bozeman, Montana (BZN); Cincinnati, Ohio (CVG); Cozumel, Mexico (CZM); Jacksonville, Florida (JAX); Memphis, Tennessee (MEM); and Reno, Nevada (RNO) axed during the first week of 2024.
The following month will see even more legs dropped, as Albuquerque, New Mexico (ABQ); Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (OKC); Eagle-Vail, Colorado (EGE); El Paso, Texas (ELP); Fort Myers, Florida (RSW); Kansas City, Missouri (MCI); Sacramento, California (SMF); Tampa, Florida (TPA); and Washington Dulles (IAD) near Washington, D.C., see their final days of service between Feb. 10 and Feb. 14.
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The airline will drop other AUS routes through next spring.
iStockOn March 30, American will then end all flights from AUS to Nassau (NAS) in the Bahamas and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (PUJ). Next, the carrier will drop service from the Texas city to Liberia, Costa Rica (LIR), and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (PVR), on Apr. 2 and Apr. 3, respectively.
Service to Montego Bay, Jamaica (MBJ) will also end sometime in 2024. Planned routes to Tulsa, Oklahoma (TUL) and Destin-Fort Walton, Florida (VPS) have also been scrapped, travel news website One Mile at a Time reports.
The news comes just two years after the carrier began investing heavily in the burgeoning destination with a boom in added service and routes.
"Austin remains an important market for American as we continuously evaluate our network," a spokesperson for the airline told aviation news outlet AirlineGeeks in a statement. "Together with our partners, American will continue to offer customers service to 15 of the top 20 markets from AUS, while continuing to offer one-stop connections across our comprehensive global network to more than 350 destinations around the world."
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JetBlue is making further cuts from some of its hubs in the Northeast.
ShutterstockIn another set of significant changes from a major carrier, JetBlue Airways will also begin scaling back its schedule in the new year. Flight data posted to Cirium shows that the airline axed 3,138 flights in Jan. 2024, affecting travel from New York City-area airports, Simple Flying reports.
The changes will bring reduced service from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Barbados (BGI); Las Vegas, Nevada (LAS); Los Angeles, California (LAX); Miami, Florida (MIA); Orlando, Florida (MCO); Palm Beach, Florida (PBI); Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic (POP); San Francisco, California (SFO); Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic (STI); and Washington, D.C. (DCA).
Best Life has reached out to American Airlines and JetBlue Airways about the changes and will update this article with their responses.
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These aren't the only flight cuts recently announced by major airlines.
Shutterstock / Andrey BurmakinThe latest changes aren't the only time recently JetBlue has announced significant route map changes. Last week, the airline confirmed that it would be slashing flights to 17 cities and axing routes from its service map beginning early next January, with most changes affecting airports throughout the Northeast, The Points Guy reported.
Part of the airline's planned changes will also see one route axed entirely later this month. JetBlue will operate its last service from Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) and Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport (ROC) in New York on Nov. 27, Simple Flying reports. It will also stop flights between BOS and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) starting in January.
Additionally, United Airlines recently announced that it would be paring back some of its service on the East Coast. The flight carrier showed it would decrease departures between EWR and DCA beginning in April 2024, with cuts continuing in most months through at least September, Simple Flying reports.
And Delta Air Lines said it would also drop departures with plans to cut 10 percent of flights from its New York hubs at JFK and LaGuardia Airport (LGA), a spokesperson for the airline confirmed to travel news outlet The Points Guy. The changes will affect several smaller cities currently serviced by the carrier, including Bangor, Maine; Burlington, Vermont; Norfolk, Virginia; Syracuse, New York; and dropping service from LGA to Greater Binghamton Airport (BGM) in New York beginning in January.
