Originally Posted by
only1percent
AA long-haul flying is more limited by capacity than by fuel costs. Its stinginess with the orderbook in the 2010s left it unable to replace the 763s, 757 lie flats, and A332s it parked in COVID, to say the least of serve new demand. It doesn’t have the JFK slots or airside LGA-JFK shuttle that would enable it to service high-margin ex-NYC destinations that have no OneWorld partner - Seoul, Beijing, Frankfurt, Amsterdam. Zurich.
Yes, AA has a smaller wide body network than DL/UA due to the fleet situation, but the high fuel costs due to the conflict in the Middle East could still cause some routes to get trimmed or cut.
Not to derail this thread, but JFK-FRA/AMS/ZRH could be great XLR routes. AA doesn't even serve Beijing on their own metal. They'll probably re-add it from DFW or LAX. ICN will probably see a 2nd DFW flight or LAX well before it gets JFK service.