American Airlines had a busy end to the week, launching eight new routes across the US and the globe. The world's biggest airline plans to add six new flights through its Northeast Alliance with JetBlue and two long-haul routes in South America and Oceania. Let's take a look.
Going further afield
For the winter season, American Airlines is relaunching flights to Auckland, New Zealand. The carrier will start daily flights from Dallas-Ft. Worth to Auckland using a Boeing 787-9 in the winter season, i.e., October 29th to March 25th. The move comes as the island opens its border to all visitors for the first time in two years.
Before the pandemic, AA connected Auckland using a flight through Los Angeles, a shorter journey and major hub for Oceania services. This route could make a comeback over the summer notably.
Another 787 route making a return this winter is Miami to Montevideo, Uruguay. American will offer 787-8 flights three times a week, increasing this to daily from December 14 to January 1st for Christmas travel. This is another service that was paused due to COVID but is now seeing enough demand to justify a return from October 30th to March 25th at least.
JetBlue partnership going strong
Closer to home, American is leveraging the Northeast Alliance to add new connections from two New York airports, LaGuardia (LGA) and JFK. Today, the airline is adding four year-round and two seasonal flights, namely:
- Year-round flights from LGA to Little Rock (LIT) and Tulsa (TUL) and JFK to Bermuda (BDA) and Monterrey (MTY)
- Seasonal flights from LGA to Asheville (AVL) and Key West (EYW)
The increase is a boon for American Airlines as it hopes to build a larger passenger base on both coasts with partnerships with the likes of Alaska Airlines too. However, expect to see renewed competition from United and Delta as they try to challenge for more slots in New York and American's partnership in general.
Rebuilding the network
This winter, American is hoping that it can rebuild long-haul international routes that were missed this summer due to COVID or capacity shortages. Indeed, a spree of retirements last year means American is struggling with widebodies due to Boeing's year-long delivery pause on the workhorse 787 Dreamliner. Any further expansion will be dictated by these jets joining the fleet sooner than later.
However, as far as possible, American is looking to add shorter flights too. Domestic flights remain key for the industry as international travel is yet to recover and may never be the same. Keep an eye out for more details on how the world's biggest airline by fleet size and revenue tackles the future.
What do you think about American's slew of new routes? Let us know in the comments!