American Airlines will further shrink at Los Angeles International Airport, ceding a number of domestic routes to Alaska Airlines as it focuses on its more profitable hubs.
American Airlines LAX Routes Cuts
AA will drop service between Los Angeles and:
- Eugene (EUG)
- Fresno (FAT)
- Louisville (SDF)
- Medford (MFR)
- Redmond (RDM)
- San Diego (SAN)
Although not officially a coordinated effort, Alaska Airlines already serves Redmond and will add service to Eugene, Fresno, and Medford from LAX. Cranky Flier calls this “playing with fire,” noting the closer ties between Alaska Airlines and American Airlines may invite regulatory anti-trust scrutiny. I’m not convinced that would be the case, no matter what happens in November. We are in such an unprecedented time in U.S. aviation history and I suspect that any government will recognize that survival will include shedding some duplicative routes. In the case of these flights, United Airlines will continue to serve all cities from Los Angeles except for Redmond and Louisville.
To compensate for the route cuts, American Airlines will increase service to Eugene, Medford, and Redmond from its Phoenix (PHX) hub from one flight to two flights per day.
American Airlines has scaled back its growth plans for August after a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, cutting its already-reduced schedule by another 11%. While some cuts are to Canada, Hawaii, and Mexico, where travel restrictions have been extended, many domestic routes are also being suspended or reduced. AA’s surge in flights in June or July proved fruitful until states began to shut down again over the last two weeks.
CONCLUSION
American Airlines continues to shrink at LAX in light of falling demand and other competitive pressures. Although the West Coast routes will still be served by Alaska and United, the further shrinking of AA at LAX in favor of PHX suggests American will cede more flying to Alaska or JetBlue, whether officially or not.
> Read More: As American Retreats, Will Delta Or United Step Up At LAX?
> Read More: Following JetBlue, Alaska Airlines Bulks Up In Los Angeles
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Interesting to watch this unfold. I could arguably see more cuts even on routes that AA has flown for years. I’ve read that LAX-BOS was an underperforming route for years and both DL and UA maintained a revenue premium over AA on this route.
SAN seems like a big loss to me, especially for INTL. AA might be scaling ops down in LAX, but Oneworld isn’t. PHX doesn’t offer anything useful, and backtracking to DFW is not going to be an attractive option for anyone headed to Asia.
I think with the right banked schedule, DFW will still appeal to those wed to oneworld. We’ll also see if SEA grows as a transpacific hub beyond PVG. I predict HND and HKG as well.
I don’t really see AA moving their HND flight to Seattle. First Delta tried it and failed, secondly there is much more demand for the hnd flight from bere. (There is still a massive Japanese population just south of lax along with those in Orange county. Lastly, SEA already has I think 4 flights to Tokyo. 2 of them to HND. Doesn’t make much sense to add another flight up there. Especially with jal having service there.
The loss of AA to SAN is United’s gain. AA will lose most of their transpacific relevance originating in SAN (with the exception of the JAL flight to NRT if it returns post-COVID) and United will maintain their connections via both LAX and SFO.
I agree from the perspective of the LAX hub, but I suppose AA will try to get people to connect in SEA (via Alaska) or even in DFW.
As a SAN FF’r, the thought of driving up the 405 or flying UX/UA to LAX to catch a “late in the day” Hawaii flight or an Int’l flight in lieu of flying AA is a big loss. AA (imho) was much more convenient, despite the dreaded LAX’s Eagle Nest and the stupid bus to the main terminal.
My old proverb “If American doesn’t fly, neither do I” is getting challenged. For SAN flyers, AA has ceded Hawaii to Alaska and Hawaiian. Strange. This must be where the new partnership takes up the slack … for when Hawaii opens up again.
I see in the next few years a ticket price war in SEA aa is getting ou of LAX and Alaska is going to feed all the Pacific flts out of Seattle for AA
Is going to be interesting between delta and American by 2024 or 2025
We should know the winner