Fort Worth-based American Airlines will offer more service from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) this fall. The carrier will launch flights connecting the nation’s capital to Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE) and will reintroduce service to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) after a 6-year hiatus.

The new and returning routes come after the oneworld airline announced an expansion to its winter schedule to Latin America and the Caribbean. It is set to be the carrier’s largest-ever flight schedule, increasing frequencies on more than 20 existing routes.

Within the perimeter rule

In a statement to Simple Flying on Monday, American’s Senior Vice President of Network Planning, Brian Znotins, confirmed the FLL and MKE additions from DCA.

“American is excited to offer more service to Reagan National Airport with the additions of Fort Lauderdale and Milwaukee. These new markets join our robust DCA network of more than 85 destinations. We’re proud to serve these new in-perimeter markets without adding more congestion to the most heavily-utilized runway in the nation.”

Although Znotins mentioned the flights are “in-perimeter,” American and other carriers have voiced their concerns regarding the expansion plans of DCA’s current perimeter rule.

Milwaukee route

Service to Milwaukee will begin on October 5th, with flights departing twice daily. The route will be operated by PSA Airlines, one of American’s three wholly-owned regional subsidiaries, flying under the American Eagle brand. Flight 5637 (JIA5637) will depart DCA at 11:34 and is scheduled to arrive at MKE at 12:58 local time. The return flight will depart MKE at 13:39, arriving at DCA at 16:29.

The second MKE-bound flight (JIA5656) will depart DCA at 19:50 and will arrive at 21:21. The return flight (JIA5646) will leave the following morning back to DCA at 06:13, arriving at 9:15 local time. The aircraft operating the route will be the Bombardier CRJ700, seating 65 passengers. With two daily nonstop flights, at least 7,000 seats will be offered monthly according to data from Cirium Aviation Analytics.

The CRJ700 cabin is configured with a first class of nine seats in a 1-2 format. The main cabin includes 56 seats, with 12 marketed as “Main Cabin Extra” seats with extra legroom. For entertainment, passengers can stream movies, TV shows, and music to their personal devices.

Reinstating service after 6 years

One month later, American will re-launch service with twice daily flights to FLL after last operating the route in 2017. A mainline aircraft will be utilized – the Airbus A319, accommodating 128 passengers. The first flight, American Airlines flight 2939 (AAL2939), will depart DCA at 10:00 and will arrive in FLL after a three-hour journey at 13:03. The return flight to DCA will depart FLL at 13:39 and arrive at 16:21.

The second flight (AAL2943) is scheduled to depart DCA at 15:10, arriving in FLL at 18:13. It will leave FLL to return to DCA at 18:50 and will arrive at 21:30. In November, more than 13,000 seats will be offered on the route, while in December, January, and March will see nearly 16,000 seats, according to Cirium.

American operates three versions of the A319, although only one version has a noticeable difference to passengers. The A319-112, acquired from US Airways, is equipped with CFM56 engines, while the A319-132 variant, formerly operated by America West, is powered by IAE V2500 engines. The A319-115, which has only operated for American since being delivered in 2013, is also equipped with CFM56 engines, but features sharklets and seatback screens as opposed to personal streaming entertainment on the other variants.