AA used to have an amazing network in Brasil, in addition to GRU and GIG: Belo Horizonte, Salvador da Bahia, Fortaleza, Brasília, Campinas, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Manaus, Recife.

I think some of them were short-lived attempts to see if they could work. A lot of them were OK as long as the Brazilian economy was strong. When the Brazilian economy weakened, and the purchasing power of the Real in relation to the USD decreased strongly, then both business travel and leisure travel from the Brazilain point-of-sale dried up enough. And AA, as we know, is not the kind of company that likes investing routes as loss leaders to retain market share. I hope if and when things pick up in Brasil, AA is on the lookout to spot the trend and be aggressive in re-starting some routes. Maybe not to FOR and REC and SSA (although Salvador is huge), but at least to secondary economic centers like Brasília and BH and maybe POA as a tag on and as an economic hub in the south, with increased frequencies to GRU. I remember a time when MIA had two red-eyes and a day flight.

AA always had very strong brand recognition and a ton of strength against not only US carriers, but even LATAM, in the Brasil point-of-sale. I hope they can get back to that when Brasil is once again in a position for it.