Flights between the United States and Australia continue to struggle to attract passengers, with several airlines announcing the suspension of existing services and delays returning some previously paused flights. In recent days, Qantas, United Airlines, and American Airlines have all made decisions about flights and schedules between the two countries.

United Airlines and American Airlines make decisions about their Australian flights

United Airlines may be bedding down its corporate bromance with Virgin Australia at the expense of a jilted Delta Air Lines, but that hasn't stopped United from deferring the restart of two routes to Australia. Over the weekend, the Chicago-based airline confirmed it would push back the restart of the Sydney - Houston, and Melbourne - Los Angeles routes to October 28. Those two routes were among a raft of transpacific routes United Airlines has deferred restarting or trimmed existing capacity on.

United Airlines continues to fly between Sydney and Los Angeles and Sydney and San Francisco. But you give you an idea of how these flights are going, an Australian Frequent Flyer forum post reveals a United Airlines Sydney - San Francisco flight on Monday operated with just 16% of seats filled, including just 28 out of the 266 seats available in economy class occupied.

Meanwhile, American Airlines is suspending flights on the Los Angeles - Sydney run across May. American Airlines also temporarily suspended its Australia flights in 2021 but resumed services last month. The Los Angeles - Sydney route is American Airlines' sole Australian route. The suspension of the Sydney services was just one of several international routes American is now pausing or delaying resuming services on. Network-wide, American Airlines reduced departures by around 19.1% and seats by around 17.5% in May as it brings its schedule in line with the overall demand environment.

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Mixed news from Qantas

Delta Air Lines continues to soldier on with its daily Los Angeles-Sydney A350-900 flights. Meanwhile, Qantas is flying between Sydney and Los Angeles and Melbourne and Los Angeles. Qantas operates a combination of Airbus A380 and Boeing 787-9 aircraft on the Sydney - Los Angeles route and Boeing 787-9 aircraft between Melbourne and Los Angeles.

Qantas is also resuming services between Sydney and Dallas Fort Worth later this month, albeit using a Dreamliner rather than the traditional A380. However, Qantas is also quietly suspending its flights between Sydney and Honolulu over February and March after only resuming operations on the route in December.

The planned resumption of Qantas services to San Francisco is also paused. The mid-February restart of Sydney - San Francisco flights is now pushed back to late July. Scheduled services between Brisbane and San Francisco, also set to resume in mid-February, have quietly dropped off the books, and there is no word on when Melbourne - San Francisco flights might restart.

A turbulent flying environment between the United States & Australia

It adds up to a volatile and uncertain flying environment between the United States and Australia. The announcements from the airlines preceded news on Monday that Australia would reopen to fully vaccinated tourists later this month. However, given the continuing dialogue that goes on between airlines and governments, it's hard to accept the airlines weren't aware a policy change was imminent. But the airlines adjusted their flights anyway.

While Australia may be rolling out the welcome mat later this month, the decisions made by the airlines say a lot about their outlook on future passenger numbers between the United States and Australia this year. The Australian Government may be flicking the switch to open, but the airlines don't seem to think that will mean people will start flooding in.