June 4 - American Airlines has announced a major systemwide capacity increase. Come July, the airline will be operating over 40% of its capacity compared to the same time in 2019. This includes 55% of American’s domestic schedule and almost 20% of the international schedule – showing signs of a market in rebound.

 

Major domestic systemwide resumptions

In July and August, American Airlines plans to fly about 55% of its domestic schedules compared to the same time last year. July’s schedule will see the smallest service reductions in the airline’s network since March.

From Dallas (DFW) and Charlotte (CLT), American is increasing frequencies to significant cities in Florida, Gulf Coast cities, and mountain destinations in the United States. During this time, American will offer more seats to Florida than any other airline.

 

International demand is slower– but still warrants service increases

American has seen domestic demand rebound faster than international services. However, the airline is still seeing demand for international travel. On June 4th, American brought the following eight international routes back:

• Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) to Amsterdam (AMS)
• DFW to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG)
• DFW to Frankfurt (FRA)
• Miami (MIA) to St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda (ANU)
• Chicago-O’Hare (ORD) to London-Heathrow (LHR)
• New York-JFK to LHR
• MIA to Guayaquil, Ecuador (GYE)
• MIA to Quito, Ecuador (UIO)

 

In July, the airline will be operating the following long-haul international routes:

• DFW-AMS
• DFW-CDG
• DFW-Dublin (DUB)
• DFW-FRA
• DFW-LHR
• DFW-Madrid (MAD)
• DFW-Hong Kong (HKG)
• DFW-Tokyo (HND and NRT)
• DFW-Seoul (ICN)
• JFK-LHR
• ORD-LHR
• MIA-LHR
• LAX-HND

Transatlantic services out of Philadelphia and Charlotte have been further delayed. The same is true for some of the airline’s Caribbean services – a strong market for American Airlines.

 

Re-opening Admirals Clubs

Starting June 22nd, American will begin re-opening at least one Admirals Club in every hub. This will mean a total of 10 new Admirals Clubs opening up. At another 12 airports, American’s Admirals Clubs will open up as service counters for travel assistance, but not as lounges for passenger relaxation before a flight.

 

Starting June 22nd, the following Admirals Clubs will re-open with pre-packaged snack offerings and a full-service bar with complimentary premium beverages:

• Charlotte (CLT), Concourse C
• Washington-National (DCA), Terminal B
• Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Terminal A and Terminal C
• New York-JFK, Terminal B
• Los Angeles (LAX), Terminal 4
• New York-LaGuardia (LGA), Concourse D
• Miami (MIA), Gate D30
• Chicago-O’Hare (ORD), Concourse H/K
• Philadelphia (PHL), Terminal B/C
• Phoenix (PHX), Gate A7

 

The following Admirals Clubs will open up as travel assistance centers:

• Atlanta-Hartsfield Jackson (ATL), Concourse T
• Austin (AUS), Gate 22
• Dallas (DFW), Terminal D
• Nashville (BNA), Concourse C
• Boston (BOS), Terminal B
• Houston (IAH), Terminal A
• Pittsburgh (PIT), Main Lobby
• Raleigh (RDU), Terminal 2
• San Francisco (SFO), Terminal 1
• Orange County (SNA), Gate 8
• Orlando (MCO), Gate 55
• St. Louis (STL), Concourse C
• Tampa (TPA), Gate 85

 

Continued signs of rebound

At the end of May, American was flying about 110,000 customers per day. This was up from the 32,000 average daily customers in April and shows in the TSA numbers.

After a rough first quarter, the second quarter is starting to look better for the airline. With new cargo-only flights, American was able to earn some much-needed revenue while passenger services remained low. Now, however, some of American’s premium long-haul routes are coming back and are likely fueled by strong cargo demand in addition to passenger services.

The international routes are mainly to American’s most reliable markets– partner hubs and Latin American services. In the coming months, it would not be surprising to see American grow more Caribbean services and add more transatlantic flights to London or Madrid, where it can provide connections on fellow oneworld partners British Airways and Iberia, respectively.

Nevertheless, given American’s major domestic increase for next month, expect the airline to continue to bolster its United States network for the next few months.

 

 

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