As 2022 gets off to a start, airlines are facing a new problem of crew shortages due to the contagious Omicron variant and other related issues. American Airlines has thus decided to make some targeted schedule reductions in the domestic, regional market to prevent large operational disruptions. As part of the cuts, American will mostly be reducing frequencies and, unlike other airlines, will not cut any destinations from its network.

American Airlines makes targeted schedule reductions

In schedules filed this weekend on Cirium and confirmed by the airline, American Airlines has made some cuts to its network, primarily targeting routes operated by regional jets. The cuts target a range of routes, including:

  • Los Angeles (LAX) to El Paso (ELP) goes from up to three daily E175 services down to daily CRJ700 services in February
  • Los Angeles (LAX) to Denver (DEN) goes from up to three daily flights to six weekly A319 and one weekly E175 service in February
  • New York (JFK) to Raleigh (RDU) goes from up to five daily E175 services down to three daily E175 services in March
  • Phoenix (PHX) to Santa Fe (SAF) goes from two daily CRJ700 services down to daily CRJ700 service in March
  • Phoenix (PHX) to Long Beach (LGB) goes from three daily CRJ700/CRJ900 service down to ten weekly CRJ700/CRJ900 services in February
  • Dallas (DFW) to Columbia (COU) goes from three daily CRJ700 services down to 12 weekly CRJ700 services in February
  • Miami (MIA) to Cleveland (CLE) goes from one daily B737-800 and one daily E175 down to one daily B737-800 in March
  • Chicago (ORD) to Baltimore (BWI) goes from up to three daily CRJ700/E175 service down to 12 weekly CRJ700/E175 service in February
  • Chicago (ORD) to Nashville (BNA) goes from 28 weekly  CRJ700/E175/A320 services down to 21 weekly CRJ700/E175/A320 services through the rest of January
The cuts are not isolated to a specific hub. Photo: Getty Images

These are just a few of the routes impacted. The cuts are spread across the network and are not isolated to any specific hub, fleet, regional operator, or frequency. Unlike other airlines, American is not exiting any of the cities. As a result, impacted customers will have the ability to alter their itinerary and find something comparable through another hub or on a different flight time. In addition, any customers who choose not to accept an alternate itinerary and their flight is canceled can receive a refund.

The good news for travelers is that the cuts are typically only impacted for a few weeks. For example, Los Angeles to El Paso and Denver both go down to daily service in February. In March, American is scheduled to increase service back up to two daily operations between LAX and ELP. LAX to DEN also returns to twice-daily service from March. Chicago to Nashville essentially is restored by February and beyond.

American Getty
Many smaller destinations in the US receive air service through agreements major US carriers have with regional airlines. Photo: Getty Images

Putting the cuts in perspective

Using data from Cirium, American Airlines has made targeted cuts primarily in the first quarter of 2022. Looking at data for each month, the cuts are as follows:

  • 1,235 flights cut in January, or a reduction of 0.7%
  • 1,879 flights cut in February, or a reduction of 1.2%
  • 11,209 flights cut in March, or a reduction of 6.0%
  • 5,768 flights cut in April, or a reduction of 2.7%

Isolating just the first quarter (January through March) and comparing it to 2019 levels, American Airlines is still flying less than it was in 2019. In the first quarter of 2022, American has scheduled 11.2% fewer flights. However, in terms of seat count, the airline is only offering 5.4% fewer seats, largely due to gauge increases of its existing aircraft and redeployment of some widebody capacity into the domestic and near-field international markets.

The industry typically measures capacity in terms of available seat miles (ASMs). In the first quarter of 2022, the airline's overall ASMs compared to the same quarter of 2019 is down 8.2%. Available seat miles is equivalent to the number of seats American has for sale multiplied by the number of miles flown.

American Airlines 777-300ER
There are minimal cuts to the mainline operation, and several major routes currently seeing multiple daily widebody services will continue to see them. Photo: Getty Images

These cuts are nothing like the industry saw in 2020 and 2021. In fact, in the first quarter of 2022, American Airlines has scheduled 45.4% more flights with 52.6% more seats for sale than the first quarter of 2021. In terms of ASMs, the airline has increased its capacity a whopping 61.6% year-over-year in the first quarter.

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A unique situation for airlines

Airlines are trying to manage through an ever-changing world. While crews getting sick has been a concern since the start of the crisis, the recent surge in cases across the United States associated with the contagious Omicron variant has caused new headaches for planners. American is not alone in making cuts to its schedules due to staffing shortages.

The difference is that American Airlines is not currently exiting any markets. Particularly at the regional level, several airlines have indicated there are some ongoing concerns of staffing. United Airlines has been prominent in terms of cutting some regional destinations from its network entirely and parking around 100 regional jets due to a lack of available pilots. The difference is that American Airlines is making more short-term reductions while the cuts at United and some other airlines have extended into more long-term schedule cuts.

(Obviously, this wasn't taken at Palm Springs!) Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying.

The one upside for airlines is that the first quarter is a little quieter from a traveler perspective. There are no major holiday periods like Thanksgiving or Christmas, and with schools in session and colder weather, some leisure travelers tend to wait. That being said, there are some strong traffic flows through early March between northern, colder climates and southern, warmer destinations like Florida and beach destinations in Mexico. American has made very limited cuts to those traffic flows.

The question will be how long the current staffing crunches will last. At this time, there does not appear to be enough information for airlines to make more long-term plans. Airlines traditionally see a passenger benefit in March, when the Spring Break holidays roll around. Unlike other holiday periods, there is no uniform week or set of days that Spring Break encompasses, thus spreading out some of the travel over the month and into April. Time will tell if airlines will face ongoing crew or staffing shortages that force some cuts.