American Airlines has “reset” its international schedule, with across-the-board cuts that will continue into 2021 and particularly deep cuts for its Los Angeles hub.
New International Strategy For American Airlines
American Airlines will concentrate international operations in three gateways:
- Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) – transpacific hub
- Miami International Airport (MIA) – Caribbean + Latin America hub
- Philadelphia (PHL) – transatlantic hub
Charlotte (CLT), Chicago (ORD), and Los Angeles (LAX) will still retain some service, but American is shifting its focus to “strategic” hubs. American’s Chief Revenue Officer Vasu Raja said:
“COVID-19 has forced us to reevaluate our network. American will have a significantly smaller international network in the year ahead, but we are using this opportunity to hit reset and create a network using the strength of our strategic hubs that we can build and grow upon and be profitable on in this new environment.”
Seattle, AA’s new west coast focus city, will snatch the Shanghai flight from Los Angeles. Other cancelled LAX flights (Beijing, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo) will not shift to Seattle at this time, but simply not return post-pandemic. The routes at LAX were called “underperforming.”
American Airlines Updated 2020-21 International Schedule
Here is the complete list of AA’s planned international longhaul service for the remainder of 2020 and into 2021:
| Origin | Destination | Schedule change |
|---|---|---|
| Charlotte (CLT) | Frankfurt (FRA) | Service resumes summer 2021 |
| CLT | London (LHR) | Service resumes winter 2020 |
| CLT | Munich (MUC) | Service resumes winter 2020 |
| Chicago (ORD) | Barcelona (BCN) | Service resumes summer 2021 |
| ORD | Dublin (DUB) | Service resumes summer 2021 |
| ORD | Paris (CDG) | Service resumes summer 2021 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) | Beijing (PEK) | Service resumes summer 2021 |
| DFW | Buenos Aires (EZE) | Service resumes winter 2020 |
| DFW | Lima (LIM) | Service resumes winter 2020 |
| DFW | Sao Paulo (GRU) | Service resumes winter 2020 |
| DFW | Rome (FCO) | Service resumes summer 2021 |
| DFW | Santiago (SCL) | Service resumes summer 2021 |
| DFW | Tel Aviv (TLV) | Service launches winter 2021 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | Auckland (AKL) | Service launches winter 2021 |
| LAX | LHR | Service resumes winter 2020 |
| LAX | Sydney (SYD) | Service resumes summer 2021 |
| New York (JFK) | CDG | Service resumes winter 2020 |
| JFK | BCN | Service resumes summer 2021 |
| JFK | EZE | Service resumes winter 2020 |
| JFK | Rio de Janeiro (GIG) | Service resumes winter 2021 |
| JFK | GRU | Service resumes winter 2020 |
| JFK | Madrid (MAD) | Service resumes summer 2021 |
| JFK | Milan (MXP) | Service resumes summer 2021 |
| Miami (MIA) | CDG | Service resumes summer 2021 |
| MIA | GIG | Service resumes winter 2020 |
| MIA | GRU | Service resumes Aug. 6, 2020 |
| MIA | MAD | Service resumes summer 2021 |
| MIA | SCL | Service resumes Aug. 5, 2020 |
| Philadelphia (PHL) | Amsterdam (AMS) | Service resumes winter 2020 |
| PHL | DUB | Service resumes winter 2020 |
| PHL | LHR | Service resumes winter 2020 |
| PHL | Manchester (MAN) | Service resumes summer 2021 |
| PHL | MAD | Service resumes winter 2020 |
| PHL | CDG | Service resumes summer 2021 |
| PHL | FCO | Service resumes summer 2021 |
| PHL | Zurich (ZRH) | Service resumes summer 2021 |
| Phoenix (PHX) | LHR | Service resumes winter 2020 |
| Raleigh (RDU) | LHR | Service resumes winter 2020 |
| Seattle (SEA) | Bangalore (BLR) | Service launches winter 2021 |
| SEA | LHR | Service launches summer 2021 |
| SEA | Shanghai (PVG) | New service subject to government approval |
Which American Airlines International Routes Will Not Return?
Several legacy routes will not return. Los Angeles is hit the hardest, but all hubs lose service. AA’s planned foray into Central Europe and to Morocco has been shelve
| Origin | Destination |
|---|---|
| CLT | BCN |
| CLT | FCO |
| CLT | CDG |
| DFW | MUC |
| LAX | Hong Kong (HKG) |
| LAX | EZE |
| LAX | GRU |
| LAX | PEK |
| LAX | PVG |
| MIA | Brasilia (BSB) |
| MIA | MXP |
| ORD | Budapest (BUD)* |
| ORD | Krakow (KRK)* |
| ORD | Prague (PRG)* |
| ORD | Venice (VCE) |
| PHL | Berlin (TXL) |
| PHL | BUD |
| PHL | Casablanca (CMN)* |
| PHL | Dubrovnik (DBV) |
Those routes with an asterisk never actually begun. AA will only move its Shanghai flight from Los Angeles to Seattle if it receives permission from the Chinese government.
CONCLUSION
American Airlines expects summer 2021 capacity to be down 25% versus 2019. Cuts will be concentrated in Charlotte, Chicago, and Los Angeles. I’ll address the Los Angeles cuts specifically in a wider post on why profits seems elusive for all airlines at LAX.
Will the permanent route cuts change your loyalty to American Airlines?
Seems like they’re cutting a lot more than fat here. About as smart as eating your seed corn.
I concur with “Christian” above, and he’s already being very diplomatic.
I’d say AA is self-castrating with this new spaghetti dartboard.
For what it’s worth, my name really is Christian. I caught enough flak about it as a kid that I figured I’d stick with it as adult.
omg that totally wasn’t what i meant. sorry to have confused (and upset) you.
i use either @ sign or use quotes when referring to another screename, regardless of who it is. matt himself can easily attest to that seeing that i come in periodically. >__<
I was really looking forward to flying the AA Dreamliner directly into Krakow. Now that won’t happen.
This was not a complete list as my flight from ORD to ATH has also been cancelled.
I caught that one as well . Ended up canceling my flight when they dropped it.
I suppose with the LAX long haul cuts from Asia operated by 787, there will also be cuts on those LAX-DFW and LAX-ORD domestic 787 positioning flights? That’d be the biggest bummer.
I assume AA is slashing DFW – AKL and LAX – CHC which they had planned?
HKG “underperforming“?
Say it ain’t so, Shirley!
Apparently this is not the complete list. My September flight from ORD to ATH has been removed from the schedule. I only know because I looked today and not because AA notified me. Incidentally, thanks AA for no notice. Totally unacceptable given they took Cares Act funding.
Oh, and my PHL-ZRH flight was cancelled too. Once again, no email notice and rebooking was an absolute cluster.
I didn’t see DFW HKG on any of the lists. Loved flying that route. Sad, AA is slowly pushing me away …..
How bad is flying on American Airlines when the CEO is on TV on a SOUTHWEST FLIGHT commenting on Covid and flying>
They picked the most unfriendly HUB in the country, PHL. I will look for alternatives, as it will also add an additional stop from the commuter airport I start at, AGS. I will become a Delta fan pretty quickly I suspect.
To answer your question on whether it will adjust my loyalty – my answer is yes. I have already abandoned AA due to its pull-back from LAX even now when most domestic flights require a stop. Now with the pullout of key Asian cities, it was the final nail. I may still fly the OneWorld partners (eg. CX to HKG), but it is likely I would fly another alliance.
Thank you Boarding Area I just checked my flights to STT and found they were changed all flights now to STT go through MIA no longer CLT and my wife and my seats were no longer together thanks to the AA agent who fixed the seat issue and put us together
The first agent would not unless we paid an up charge