- American Airlines is dropping 27 routes in 2022, 18 of which touch New York City airports.
- The move comes a week after the airline announced it was bolstering its Northeast Alliance with JetBlue Airways.
- The cuts also include completely dropping service to Ottawa, Canada, as well as ending some regional routes.
American Airlines dropped 27 routes over the weekend as it continues to strategically shuffle its network.
American Airlines is making more route adjustments as it prepares for 2022, with New York City airports feeling the brunt. On Monday, the carrier confirmed to Insider that it filed 27 route cuts since Friday, 18 of which touch New York's John. F. Kennedy International Airport or LaGuardia Airport. The additional nine include slashed service to Canada and some of the carrier's domestic service out of Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, and Philadelphia.
"Over the weekend, American optimized its flying schedule to better connect customers with the destinations most important to them," an American spokesperson told Insider. "Part of that process resulted in the winding down of a handful of routes, including our dedicated shuttle service. We're proactively reaching out to customers affected by these changes to offer alternate travel arrangements."
Last Tuesday, American announced it was strengthening its partnership with its Northeast Alliance partner JetBlue Airways despite a looming lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice in September. The agency claims the alliance violates antitrust laws and will negatively impact customers and competition. Nevertheless, the pair have been increasing operations out of the Northeast since July 2020, and even with American's route reductions, the alliance still offers the most frequencies out of New York, according to an American spokesperson.
JetBlue is set to operate 10 of the 18 routes dropped by American out of New York, according to Cirium data.
New York is not the only market taking a hit. Canada will lose five American routes from the US, including completely pulling out of Ottawa, the country's capital, according to the airline. American confirmed the news in a statement to The Points Guy, explaining demand has not returned to the city since the carrier cut operations there in June 2020, forcing American to cease service indefinitely. According to the airport's website, United Airlines is the only US carrier still serving the city.
In addition to cutting Ottawa, American has slashed flights from Phoenix to Calgary and Vancouver and from JFK to Montreal and Toronto.
American's regional service is also getting cut, with routes like Boston to Raleigh, South Carolina, and Philadelphia to Charleston, West Virginia, getting the boot. However, unlike United, which last Tuesday told Insider it would be ending service to 11 small cities indefinitely, American will continue to serve the markets getting cut with routes from other hubs, according to the carrier.
The following five routes will be dropped from JFK:
- Liberia, Costa Rica, ending April 5
- San Antonia, Texas, ending January 4
- San Jose, Costa Rica, ending April 5
- Montreal, ending January 4
- Toronto, ending January 4
The following 13 routes will be dropped from LaGuardia:
- Nantucket, Massachusetts, ending June 17
- Asheville, North Carolina, ending March 27
- Bangor, Maine, ending January 4
- Boston, ending January 4
- Charleston, South Carolina, ending January 4
- Orlando, Florida, ending January 4
- Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, ending June 17
- Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, ending June 2
- Philadelphia, ending January 4
- Pensacola, Florida, ending May 5
- Portland, Maine, ending January 4
- Savannah, Georgia, ending June 3
- Traverse City, Michigan, ending June 2
The following nine routes will also be dropped:
- Boston to Raleigh-Durham, South Carolina, ending January 4
- Charlotte to Champaign/Urbana, Illinois, ending April 5
- Charlotte to Toledo, Ohio, ending April 5
- Chicago to Charlottesville, Virginia, ending April 5
- Philadelphia to Baltimore, Maryland, ending April 5
- Philadelphia to Charleston, West Virginia, ending April 5
- Philadelphia to Ottawa, Canada, ending April 5
- Phoenix to Vancouver, Canada, ending April 5
- Phoenix to Calgary, Canada, ending April 5
