United, Delta, and JetBlue Also to Curb Flight Operations

Weeks after stating its intention to terminate service to Islip, New York (ISP); Ithaca, New York (ITH); and Toledo, Ohio (TOL), American Airlines has announced it will slash 16%—some 31,000 flights—from its November 2022 schedule. The airline asserts the move is “… in-line with our approach to network and schedule planning throughout the year.”

The largest cuts will pare down the number of flights between Chicago O’Hare (ORD) and Dallas Fort Worth (DFW), Boston (BOS), and Philadelphia (PHL). In addition, American intends to eliminate 109 Boston-to-Philly and 42 Boston-to-Miami flights.

In a statement to the press, American Airlines asserted, "Preliminary schedules are published 331-days in advance, and then adjustments are made closer-in, based on the schedule we intend to operate. We are now loading schedule adjustments approximately 100-days in advance, which is in line with how we adjusted our schedule in 2019 prior to the pandemic.”

American called the changes "proactive adjustments" undertaken to "size our airline for the resources we have available and to build an additional buffer into the remainder of our summer schedule."

The Airline’s lamentations contradict claims made by the Airline Pilots Association International (ALPA), which maintains caterwauling about pilot and capacity shortages is a tactic by which airlines seek to divert attention from their shabby performance and chronic mismanagement in the post-COVID era. ALPA analysts recently determined that airlines—despite operating almost nine-percent fewer block hours than they did prior to the pandemic—now employ 6.5% more pilots.

American isn't the only US airline to trim its schedule. United Airlines has curtailed its operations at Newark, New Jersey (EWR), and Delta has abridged its summer schedule earlier in 2022 than in years past. Even no-frills carrier JetBlue intends to suspend flights to Newark (EWR) from February through July 2023, and Austin-Bergstrom (AUS) to Los Angeles (LAX) from February through May 2023.

FMI: www.aa.com