American Airlines took the decision not to return to a number of seasonal summer destinations in Europe this year. Instead, it focused on deploying its widebodies into the domestic market. Speaking with Simple Flying, American Airlines’ Chief Revenue Officer Vasu Raja explained why this was such a great decision.

The widebodies that American Airlines would usually have been flying to Europe and other long-haul destinations had a very different mission this summer. While the airline maintained its connections to some major points in the international market, many of its widebody aircraft were instead deployed onto domestic routes, giving the airline higher gauge while international travel remained tricky.