Delta and American Are Cutting Flights to 3 Major Cities, Starting Wednesday
California travelers will be impacted by the changes.
Tourists hoping to take in the historic sights of the Bay Area, explore Hollywood, or walk across San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge may want to rethink their travel itineraries as Delta Air Lines and American Airlines announced they are cutting flights in and out of San Jose and Oakland in northern California, as well as Los Angeles as early as this week, according to Simple Flying.
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As of April 3, 2024, American will discontinue all flights from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC). The twice-daily flight only takes 90 minutes and chauffeured an estimated 4,712 passengers from southern to northern California in March 2024, per the aviation outlet.
Those numbers will dwindle exponentially in April 2024 before American passes on the reins to Alaska Airlines, which is reportedly taking over the popular intra-California flight path. The nonstop flight from LAX to SJC will only depart five times this month compared to the 62 times it operated in March. That's a difference of 4,332 available seats.
Meanwhile, Delta is also making big changes to its intra-California route map. Although the carrier is headquartered in Atlanta, Delta has a very significant presence at LAX, and its recent $2.3 billion two-terminal overhaul is proof of that, per Afar. However, after controlling the LAX to Oakland International Airport (OAK) and OAK to LAX circuit for 17 years, Delta will be reducing its services.
According to Simple Flying, Delta will go from offering 176 one-way trips between LAX and OAK (88 flights each way) to 33 one-way trips (16 from LAX to OAK, and 17 from OAK to LAX) per month by May 2024. The drastic decrease means Southwest Airlines will become the new primary LAX to OAK/OAK to LAX carrier.
Changes are already happening, but most travelers won't notice a difference right away, as Delta only intends to eliminate two LAX to OAK and two OAK to LAX flights from its April itinerary. Nevertheless, that still means 754 fewer seats will be available this month compared to last month. Come May, however, that number will skyrocket to 9,970 seats.
As American and Delta continue to reevaluate their intra-California flight paths, travelers may want to start redirecting their attention (and coveted sky miles) to other carriers with more flexible options. The change will certainly impact those traveling to and from the Bay Area on business, as well as Midwest and East Coast tourists trying to make the long journey to the Golden State.
And these aren't the only recent domestic changes the airlines have made. At the beginning of the year, Delta discontinued its transcontinental route between New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and both LAX and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX). Additionally, American confirmed its plan to drop all service between Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) and LAX this summer.
Despite the cuts, Delta recently announced that as of June 7, the airline is adding daily service between OAK and its hub in Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport (ATL).
