American Airlines is returning to Chicago-Tokyo flying, but there is a catch: it is not really adding service so much as replacing Japan Airlines on the route. That may help AAdvantage members looking to use systemwide upgrades, but for most passengers this looks like a downgrade…and betrays a linger malaise in the AA longhaul strategy.
American Airlines Replaces Japan Airlines On Chicago-Tokyo Route, And That Says A Lot About AA
As I covered earlier, American Airlines will resume daily nonstop service between Chicago O’Hare and Tokyo Narita on March 27, 2027, marking the return of American longhaul Asia flying from Chicago.
The flight will operate as follows:
- AA153 Chicago (ORD) – Tokyo Narita (NRT) dep12:45 PM, arr 3:30 PM+1
- AA154 Tokyo Narita (NRT) – Chicago (ORD) dep 5:50 PM, arr 3:10 PM
American will use its older Boeing 787-9 variant on the route, with 30 business class seats, 21 premium economy seats, and 254 economy class seats.
On the surface, this sounds like good news. More longhaul flying from Chicago is welcome, especially from American, which has ceded so much ground to United at O’Hare over the years. American last operated this route until early 2020, so this is a resumption of a route that has worked before (though AA cut it two months prior to the pandemic, so it did not fail last time due to COVID-19).
But the details, as flagged by One Mile At A Time make this far less exciting.
Japan Airlines already flies between Tokyo Narita and Chicago, and it will discontinue that route when American starts its own service. In other words, American is not really adding incremental Chicago-Tokyo capacity. It is replacing its joint venture partner…
This Helps Some AAdvantage Members, But It Is Still A Downgrade
There are some winners here.
If you are sitting on American Airlines systemwide upgrades, this route suddenly becomes more interesting. You cannot use American systemwide upgrades on Japan Airlines, but you can use them on American-operated flights. For some AAdvantage elites, American metal also means easier access to Main Cabin Extra seating.
To be sure, there are people who will be very happy to see an AA flight number operated by AA metal on this route.
But let’s not pretend the passenger experience is improving.
Japan Airlines is a better airline than American Airlines: the service culture, catering, attention to detail, and overall onboard experience are simply better on JAL. American may be more useful for upgrades, but in terms of soft product, this is a downgrade, across all cabins of service.
That does not mean American should never operate its own flights to Japan. Of course it should. I want American to fly more longhaul routes. The carrier must be ambitious because we see how ambitious Delta and United have been.
But replacing Japan Airlines on a route both carriers can coordinate through a joint venture is not exactly bold growth…it’s hardly an expansion at all.
American Keeps Doing Good Things, But What Is The Strategy?
I know I’m preaching to the choir when it comes to lamenting the puzzling strategy American Airlines is embarked on.
The airline has done a remarkable job lately in several areas. The new 787-9s are a huge step forward. Lavazza coffee onboard is a real improvement. Free Wi-Fi on the narrowbody fleet was a huge game-changer for me. Even the more detailed delay explanations are a welcome change, because passengers deserve better than vague nonsense when things go wrong.
These are not trivial upgrades. And yet American still does not seem to have a coherent growth strategy.
United has been very clear about what it wants to be: a global airline with a massive international network, strong coastal gateways, and aggressive growth. Delta has been very clear about what it wants to be: a premium airline with the most powerful fortress hubs and a relentless focus on monetizing every part of the journey.
American?
American has strong hubs, a powerful loyalty program, valuable partners, and some good new onboard investments. But I still do not know what the airline is trying to become.
Some question for AA:
- Is it seriously trying to rebuild Chicago internationally?
- Is it trying to compete seriously with United across the Pacific?
- Is it trying to lean on partners where partners are stronger? (i.e. JAL to Japan)
- Is it trying to use its own metal where it can extract more value from AAdvantage members?
I just don’t know.
Chicago is still one of the most important air markets in the United States. It is a huge business market, a huge connecting hub, and most importantly for AA, a huge loyalty market. American acknowledges that it should be more relevant internationally than it is today. So yes, the return of AA on Chicago-Tokyo is good of rate carrier.
But if this merely replaces Japan Airlines, it is hard to get too excited. Looking beyond this route announcement, I don’t know what AA can do to differentiate itself in terms of its route map. It tried and failed in Los Angeles, much to my dismay as I consider options for an upcoming trip to South America. It could not make Doha work from New York or Philadelphia. I suppose building up its fortress hubs and trying to remain competitive in cities like LAX, ORD, and JFK is about the best it can do now…but it has to grow and offer more options, both domestically and internationally, if it wants to capture more market share and earn a premium for its tickets.
CONCLUSION
American Airlines returning to Chicago-Tokyo Narita service is not bad news. It will benefit some AAdvantage members, especially those hoping to use systemwide upgrades, and it gives American another longhaul route from Chicago. But because American is replacing Japan Airlines rather than adding truly incremental service, this is hard to celebrate. Japan Airlines offers a better onboard experience, and most passengers would be better off with JAL operating the route.
More broadly, this move captures my frustration with American Airlines. The carrier is trying. In some areas, it is even making impressive progress. But when it comes to network growth and longhaul strategy, the airline still feels lost in the wind.
It reminds me of Linkin Park’s “In The End.” American has tried hard and gotten far in some respects. But without a clearer strategy, I fear too many of these improvements still won’t matter as much as they should.
I tried so hard, and got so farBut in the end, it doesn’t even matterI had to fall to lose it allBut in the end, it doesn’t even matter
“It’s hardly an expansion at all.”
Don’t call it an expansion. There’s zero increase in capacity, and presumably no increase in revenue. It was a joint venture before and will remain a joint venture with the same planes and frequency.
They might even lose revenue because an AA operated flight will likely be less competitive than JAL on this highly competitive route.
Are the timings changing? AA may have more flexibility to match NRT connecting banks to key Asia destinations due to aircraft utilization constraints faced by JL.
The premium O&D will prefer the HND flight regardless.
AA taking the route from JL is about improving aircraft utilization and maximizing passenger connections on both ends of the flight. Neither you nor OMAAT cared to highlight those important nuances.
AA < JL is simplistic.
The joint venture and mutual Oneworld membership meant that connections at both ends were already seamless and “maximized”. The only thing changing is that the long flight is now a craptacular American Airlines experience instead of a markedly superior Japan Airlines experience. That’s a significant downgrade in all classes of service. I wonder how JL’s elite pax will enjoy being sent over to Chicago on AA metal?
“The joint venture and mutual Oneworld membership meant that connections at both ends were already seamless and “maximized””
Not even close to true and honestly just ignorant. Just because a flight is flown via a JV doesn’t mean one carrier or the other can fly it and it’s automatically “maximized” or that the widebody usage is as efficient as possible — or that the right plane is on the route.
The fact remains that OneWorld customers will now be stuck on a shitty American Airlines flight instead of a markedly superior Japan Airlines flight. Obviously JL has decided that Chicago is a zeta-grade city that’s waste of their aircraft because the city and its traffic don’t yield anything like enough to make it worth their while, not an unexpected decision given the so they’re giving the route to AA with their fittingly inferior service on just about every level. The connections at both ends will remain precisely the same.
If it’s 789P, those new Flagship Suites are actually quite nice. Are they JAL a35K business class ‘nice’? No, but, still, not bad. Food is the real loss between AA and JL. Obviously, JL is better food (and, *gulp* service).
Are you unaware JL skywider seats are still better than AA MCE, same legroom but wider as JL 787 is one less seat per row in 2-4-2 vs AA is 3-3-3
JVs are “metal neutral” but they’re also not. There’s an idea that carriers don’t or shouldn’t care who is on a route in a JV but they do. JV Carriers will tend to put the stronger O&D carrier on a hub to hub route, A good example is Delta’s failure on LAX-LHR twice. VS took it over because Delta was the weaker carrier on the route so the stronger O&D carrier usually gets the route to improve yields — Or in Delta’s case it could also just be having VS take the loss on an unprofitable route since DL has such control over VS
Given HND’s convenience for people in Tokyo and the connections at HND vs NRT for the rest of Japan, it makes sense that the Chicago side of this route is likely more lucrative and AA is the better carrier to run the route since their metal will likely generate higher yields given far better name recognition at ORD.
JL is the better overall carrier, for sure, but that doesn’t mean they’ll attract as many local customers as a United or AA will in Chicago (or connecting at ORD where JL’s name recognition is far lower in a smaller connecting itinerary), especially to Narita where you’d expect only Japanese budget-conscious customers when they could fly out of HND just as easily. AA is just taking over the route because it makes more sense given demand and since you’d expect most of these customers will be AA customers transiting over NRT vs going to Tokyo for a high-yield purpose.
Why now? purely a guess but AA’s widebody shortage isn’t a secret and I doubt anything in Asia was high on the priority list until more aircraft became available.
But also… given how many people love to say “AA only does one route out of ORD year-round” — not true since JVs are real things but at least it’ll shut some up on that point.
This pivotal move of AA is a direct response to rival UA, which recently announced its own ORD-NRT service. By taking over the route with a 305-seat B787-9 Dreamliner (just like UA), AA is positioning its own brand head-to-head against UA to retain corporate accounts and frequent flyer loyalty in the competitive Chicago market.
Given that the two avid airlines operate in a joint business venture, JL will maintain its daily premium service from ORD into the more centrally located HND. If you prioritize an elite onboard experience, you can simply aim to book the HND flight.
I think I’d actually prefer American to the old jal seats. More space and more storage! I don’t think JAL food is amazing anymore. I’m not wowed by their business class meals.
AA did not fail on PHL-DOH they only cut route after mideast turmoil
you also fail to mention that AA excels in credit card, which is the industry toady, while UA is virtually inexisitent
kirby is very good at adding new exotic flights to make headlines only to pull the plug next year
Then why did Qatar swoop in to begin PHL-DOH if Mideast Turmoil made it unprofitable?
bec qatar airlines is not a business,they are heavily subsidized
look at all middle east airlines have failing routes and still dont cancel bec for them it isnt all about money
they fly to USA chiefly to please butternut squash
Because American can no longer take the liability and risks flying so close to Iran and missles flying everywhere with short notice. Qatar has to fly somewhere. They have no choice since DOH is their only hub but they also are taking huge liability with the war constantly in flux. Plus let’s not forget their are heavily subsidized by the government and can take more financial risks. American simply can’t do that and doesn’t have to since they can fly elsewhere. Qatar is oneworld so passengers still have options and both airlines are maximizing options for that route. PHL to DOH is profitable but insanely risky now. American can’t risks equipment and especially crew being stuck there again. The American crew that was stuck there had to drive 7 hours to Saudi Arabia to get out of the region last time and involved diplomatic channels and basically crisis management. Qatar simply has no choice – they have to fly somewhere or go out of business.
Narita is increasingly becoming an airport for second and third tier airlines as all the fancy airlines focus their operations on Haneda. Narita is actually closer to where I live, but I still prefer flying in and out of Haneda. Ticket prices for NRT versus HND reflect this, as does award availability.
UAL scheduled this winter’s ORD->NRT flight at nearly identical departure time with ANA’s. By mid August we will know whether ANA will cancel her route and let UAL takes over, UAL and ANA are joint venture partners on traffic between USA and Japan.
I really hope that it is just a temporary replacement and JAL will bring back its own metal for the Narita flight once they figure out the slot issues and get more A350s. JAL is currently running this rotation with one aircraft doing HND-ORD-NRT, and a second aircraft doing NRT-ORD-HND because of the slot issues at Haneda and to maximize the aircraft use. But it also means that JAL has to use the same aircraft type for both HND and NRT. I have a feeling that JAL will finally have enough A350 to finally replaced the Haneda to Chicago flight now, but not enough to maintain current mixed HND/NRT rotation or it simply does not want to use A350 on the Narita flights.