2008 Route Cuts / Changes etc.: Check here for updates (consolidated)
 

Routes Discontinues between 01NOV08 and 03NOV08

Dallas-Flint
Dallas-Harrisburg
Dallas-Nassau
Dallas-Rochester
Dallas-San Salvador
Dallas-Syracuse

LaGuardia-Boston
LaGuardia-Cincinnati
LaGuardia-Charlotte
LaGuardia-Cleveland
LaGuardia-Louisville
LaGuardia-Memphis
LaGuardia-Pittsburgh
LaGuardia-Washington Reagan

Los Angeles-San Luis Obispo

Miami-Barranquilla

O'Hare-Albany
O'Hare-Baton Rouge
O'Hare-Biloxi/Gulfport
O'Hare-Birmingham
O'Hare-Dayton
O'Hare-Fort Walton Beach
O'Hare-Greer, S.C.
O'Hare-Harrisburg
O'Hare-Jackson, Miss.
O'Hare-Lexington
O'Hare-Mobile
O'Hare-Pensacola
O'Hare-Portland, Ore.
O'Hare-Providence

Raleigh-Jacksonville
Raleigh-Kansas City
Raleigh-Louisville
Raleigh-Newark

St. Louis-Baltimore
St. Louis-Columbus
St. Louis-JFK
St. Louis-Orange County

Other changes at the start of November
*Dallas-Buenos Aires, daily 777 seasonal service on 02NOV08
*Dallas-Sao Paulo, daily 777 year-round service on 02NOV08
*Los Angeles-El Paso, new service starting 02NOV08; daily ERJ-140

*Miami-Antigua launch moved forward to 02NOV08.
*Miami-Grenada launch moved forward to 02NOV08.
*Miami-Heathrow will now have a second daily operating on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
*Miami-Madrid, daily 777 year-round service on 02NOV08
*Miami-Santiago de Chile, daily 777 seasonal service on 02NOV08.
*Miami-Sao Paulo 3x daily 777 service on 02NOV08.
*Miami-Sao Paulo, fourth daily peak seasonal flight 20DEC08-29JAN09.




---------------------------------------

UPDATED JUNE 4 2008: SDQ-SXM

---------------------------

I will continue to update this list as possible with upcoming route changes.

NOTE: Airline reservation systems are only updates once a week, early Saturday mornings (1AM-4AM EST). There is no sense in trying to change your reservations for flight cuts announce during the week until Saturday, because reservation systems will not have the changes loaded.

-----DISCONTINUED SERVICE-------------

31MAY08:

Fort Lauderdale-Santo Domingo

LaGuardia-Minneapolis

02JUL08:

Dallas Love-Austin (American Eagle/MQ)
Dallas Love-Kansas City (American Eagle/MQ)

JFK-London/STN

03SEP08:

Austin-Orange County
Austin-Raleigh
Austin-Seattle

Boston-San Diego

Chicago-Buenos Aires

Dallas-Oakland

LaGuardia-Raleigh (will still be flown by American Eagle)

Los Angeles-Fort Lauderdale
Los Angeles-San Antonio

San Juan-Antigua (will still be flown by American Eagle)
San Juan-Aruba (America Eagle/Executive)
San Juan-Baltimore
San Juan-Fort Lauderdale
San Juan-Los Angeles
San Juan-Orlando
San Juan-St. Maarten (will still be flown by American Eagle)
San Juan-St. Thomas (will still be flown by American Eagle)
San Juan-Samana, DR (American Eagle/Executive)
San Juan-Santo Domingo (will still be flown by American Eagle)
San Juan-Washington Dulles
St. Louis-Raleigh (will still be flown by AmericanConnection)
St. Louis-San Antonio (will still be flown by AmericanConnection)

Santo Domingo-St. Maarten

Washington/Reagan-Fayetteville, AK (American Eagle/MQ)

05JAN09:

Chicago-Honolulu

--------NEW SERVICE---------------

01JUN08

Chicago-Wausau, Wisconsin (American Eagle/MQ)

Dallas-Buffalo (American Eagle/MQ; seasonal through 03SEP08)

Fort Lauderdale-Kingston

02JUN08

Chicago-Moscow/Domodedovo

07JUL08

LaGuardia-Cedar Rapids (American Eagle/MQ)

Chicago-Dallas Love Field (American Eagle/MQ)

20NOV08

Miami-Antigua
Miami-Grenada

07APR09

Chicago-Beijing


-----WINTER 2008/09 SKI SERVICE--------------

Note: Routes are 18Dec08 through 06Apr09 unless noted.

Chicago-Jackson Hole
Chicago-Steamboat Springs
Chicago-Vail/Eagle

Dallas-Gunninson
Dallas-Jackon Hole (12Jun08 through 30Sep08; 18Dec08 through 06Apr09)
Dallas-Montrose (12Jun08 through 06Apr09)
Dallas-Steamboat Springs
Dallas-Vail/Eagle (12Jun08 through 06Apr09)

LaGuardia-Vail/Eagle (20Dec08 through 04Apr09)

Los Angeles-Vail/Eagle

Miami-Vail/Eagle (20Dec08 through 05Apr09)

Newark-Vail/Eagle

---------REDUCED EUROPEAN FREQUENCIES (unconfirmed)--------

Expect the following reduced service on European routes from Chicago and JFK. European service from Dallas and Miami will not change.

Chicago-Dublin will not operate on Mondays, Wednesdays
Chicago-Manchester will not operate on Mondays, Wednesdays
Chicago-Rome will be suspended between November 2008 and April 2009.

JFK-Barcelona will not operate on Tuesdays
JFK-Milan will not operates on Mondays, Wednesdays
JFK-Rome will not operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays
JFK-Paris (AA 120 only) will not operate on Mondays, Wednesdays

I'm none too pleased to see the ORD-EZE on the list. This route is fairly new, and I'm surprised it wasn't a profitable route for AA.

I don't like it either, but we noticed the a/c were not full on our recent (May 13 & May 19) trip to / from EZE out of ORD. We selected ORD particularly because there was a ton of "C" availability and a reasonable V fare, and we speculated about the ability of AA to continue this flight without a valuable cargo load. It looks like our questions have been answered.

MAH4546 has agreed to assume responsibility for editing updates into the OP - IMO think a capital idea. The route cuts discussed in the lengthly consolidated AMR-huge domestic fleet capacity reduction, $15 fee first checked bag... (consol) are getting lost in the now 17-40 page thread (depending on how member shave their defaults set.)

This thread is slightly retitled and made a consolidated thread, linked to in the Unofficial Users' Guide sticky.

A tip of the FlyerTalk baseball cap to MAH4546!

-JDiver, Moderator

ORD-HNL ? Wow, that has been around for a long time...

I am furious about this one - and I don't even live in ORD.

This will make HNL awards even harder to get - thanks a lot AA.

What moron in management came up with this one - geez...

:mad::mad:

AA needs 763s to replace the lost 772 capacity going to Beijing in March.

Me either, but I'm not too surprised. I'm a relatively frequent NYC-EZE traveler, and the ORD option was an easy way to pad the EQMs without going too far out of the way.

I guess it's back to DFW connections. :(

I've got a pair of award tix on ORD-EZE for 12/29... I'd better give AA a call ASAP. Thanks for the heads up!

While I'm not thrilled about losing (I almost feel like writing "loosing", considering how often I see that seplling here :)) the route, I'm not sure too many in AA management, morons or not, are losing much sleep over the diminished AAward availability. Airlines fly routes to make money on the paying customers, not the free seats. Of course they want to keep AAward availability at a level where good customers can occasionally fly using miles, but I think it would be an even greater "moron" who kept a route going just because it made freebies easier. The planes, as MAH4546 says, are needed elsewhere.

Are the routes listed in post #1 all being eliminated entirely, or are some of them just reduced frequency?

Exactly. This is one of those instances where UA running the domestic-configuration really helps out, as they have a just a crapton of cargo capacity and can fill it to the gills ala Japanese domestic runs. I suspect that AA was able to command a slight premium in the F cabin due to the superior seats, but still lost out in cargo and CASM/RASM. Also don't forget that HNL is almost 10% further from ORD than LHR, and that's a long way for a premium aircraft to be flying a domestic run. The 763 can be used to serve an international route that is getting downgauged because of PEK service.

Also don't forget that AS has increased capacity in the islands recently, so this should help out with seats to the islands. This isn't as ideal as AA metal, but its still better than having to fly a non-AA partner

All routes listed in the original post are either:

1) Routes being eliminated entirely.
2) Routes which mainline is ending, but will still be served by Eagle/Connection.
3) Routes which Eagle/Connection is ending, but will still be served by mainline.
4) New routes.

No frequency reductions are listed.

Ahh, I didn't think of it that way. I was thinking of 763s replacing MD80s where lots of frequency & volume exists today (e.g. ORD-LAX). While I wouldn't be surprised to see that in limited quantities, your suggestion might make more sense.

Initial Capacity Reductions Announced
 

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080527/latu524.html?.v=10


Press Release Source: American Airlines


AMR Corporation Announces Initial Round of Capacity Reductions
Tuesday May 27, 4:50 pm ET
Skyrocketing Fuel Costs and Softening Economy Drive Changes


FORT WORTH, Texas, May 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR - News) today announced the first round of reductions to its flight schedule as part of its previously announced plans to reduce capacity in an effort to significantly reduce costs and create a more sustainable supply-and-demand balance in the market. The actions come in the face of skyrocketing fuel prices and a softening economy.
The initial changes to the flight schedule include, but are not limited to:


-- Discontinuing its Chicago - Buenos Aires service effective Sept. 3.
-- Discontinuing its Chicago - Honolulu service Jan. 5, 2009. Between
September 3, 2008, and Jan. 5, 2009, American will operate
Chicago - Honolulu service only on peak demand days.
-- Discontinuing its Boston - San Diego service effective Sept. 3.
-- Restructuring American and American Eagle operations at San Juan,
Puerto Rico beginning in September. This round of reductions will
affect American and American Eagle flights originating from San Juan to
the United States and various islands in the Caribbean.


Customers impacted by the schedule changes will be contacted starting next week and re-accommodated on alternative flights.

In the coming weeks, AMR will continue to make additional schedule reductions in other markets and will assess the location- and route-specific impacts of those changes. This will be done to achieve plans to reduce AMR's fourth quarter mainline domestic capacity by 11 percent to 12 percent compared to 2007 levels and its fourth quarter regional affiliate capacity by 10 percent to 11 percent compared to 2007. Fourth quarter consolidated system capacity is expected to decline 7 percent to 8 percent year over year, including the capacity reductions that were announced earlier this year.

To effect these changes, AMR plans to retire 40-45 mainline aircraft (mostly MD-80s and some Airbus A300s) and 35-40 regional jets. In an effort to significantly reduce costs, American Eagle also will retire its Saab fleet by the end of the year.

Thanks!

Cheers.

Clearly someone who has it in for you, personally.

Cheers.

Also now posted on AA.com:

AA To Reaccomodate Customers Impacted By Schedule Reductions

Is this really true? It has been posted here multiple times that AA does not really push 777 utilization, and indeed AA has leased out spare 777s over the last few years (to Boeing and ??). That being so, are they really losing 777 capacity because of the new Peking route?

When Beijing was Peking, AA was still flying DC-3s. :cool:

ORD-HNL is a very sad route to lose. I used to choose HNL-ORD then on to New York since I could sleep the longest in F. I hope the YUP fares for NY-HNL do not go through the roof now. Didn't they used to fly this two times a day? I guess it was not profitable to drop a DFW flight and do one ORD-HNL and one LAX-HNL instead.

ORD-EZE effects me more than ORD-HNL.

OTOH, MIA-ANU is very helpful for holidays if the connection times work for me.

I just spoke with an EXP rep who was quite peeved that they had not been informed about these changes. Further, all the ORD-EZE flights are still in the res system well after 9/3.

I was scheduled to do this route again in late Sept. Glad I accidentally stumbled upon the news at AA.com so I could make alternate reservations through DFW.

I'm afraid this is just the beginning.

The press release states that ORD-HNL will continue to operate on "key days". My guess is 3x weekly, but I can't figure out which days that would be. Backing out from the 763 utilization schedule isn't giving me a whole lotta clues either.

I agree that this is just the beginning, but these reductions so far seem pretty tame (though HNL-ORD seems the most painful).

When they added ORD-EZE recently, I thought it was excess capacity - destination seems well covered by DFW, MIAx2 777, and the JFK 763/777. While I know it's not AA metal, LAN Chile offers connections through to SA that they could slap a code-share on to appear to minimize capacity reduction.

My personal hope is that LGA doesn't get hit too hard, there there are a number of destinations served (primarily by eagle) that seem ripe for schedule reduction (not route cancellation).

I don't think much at JFK is at risk (maybe STN.....)

JFK, LGA, and MIA are not going to see significant cuts. LaGuardia will see zero frequency cuts, though there might be route shuffling.

Miami might see increased service, but that's TBD. Miami's revenue is largely international, and AA needs more of that. It remains an extremely profitable operation, thanks to the Latin/Caribbean services that have extremely low break-even load-factors. Miami-St. Kitts & Nevis, for example, barely averages a year-round 65% loadfactor, but it can break-even at a 40% load.

STN has been doing well; it's definitely not totally immune, but I think people underestimate what a solid performer it has been.

AA no longer operates the 777 on JFK-EZE. They did for a brief period from Oct 2006 - April 2007 (I happened to be on the first EZE-JFK 777 flight).

I could see them eliminating LGA-MSP and perhaps eliminating (or hopefully just reducing) LGA-ATL. Also, YYZ will probably go to all Eagle.

With the reduction of A300s, there probably will be a reduction in Caribbean flying out of JFK. I agree STN will probably go. Also BDA will probably go to one a day. Not sure how well they do on cargo but if cargo is not a money maker, perhaps the 762 flight will be eliminated.

Lga-msp
 

LGA-MSP disappears as of May 31st (I was suppoed to fly this next month, but found out at least a month ago that they were cancelling all the N/S, thus necessisitating a stop in ORD).

A well connected poster on another board is mentioning some STL cutbacks, including elimination of all 757 service with the exception of 2x MIA. A number of routes losing mainline, including RSW, AUS, RDU and SAT.

Also talk of LAS and TPA going away, as well as some other RJ routes.

I'm curious. How come? Why do the Caribbean flights break even at lower loads? Freight?
I was told way back when on an empty flight from SDQ that they make out great with cargo. Now all the SDQ flights run 100% and they have fewer flights than last year.

Freight and yields.

Miami-Providenciales, for example, has the highest CASM in AA's entire network. These routes command high fares for relatively short distances. MIA-PLS is a very short hop - shorter than MIA-ATL - but easily commands an average one-way fare of over $280.

Miami-Maracaibo fares, for example, in the middle of July, still 6-8 weeks in advance, are already inching over $800, and that route is roughly the same length as Miami-New York. Good luck getting those fares consistently on MIA-JFK.

Plus, as you mentioned, freight plays a role, the bellies are also full. And, a third and less obvious culprit - overweight baggage fees.

That's in line with what I've been hearing, although the cuts are not finalized.

I think STL will probably lose 30-40 flights, but that is my opinion only, not based on anything.

can you provide a link for this?

It is not surprising that this has not been loaded. Other route changes have only been reflected in the rez system after the weekend update; I suspect we'll see something similar over the coming weekend.

I don't think they will be reducing this flight. In fact its increasing to 5x daily (all mainline) come the fall. I remember it used to be 4x (2 on eagle, 2 on mainline) & then it went all mainline & now gets another increase. Given the current economic climate, the flight must be doing very well. I fly it often & its usually packed (not that full flights mean much). Does anyone know how the route is doing? Its odd that it works IMO given the so-called fortress atl hub. delta can't seem to make inroads into any aa hubs out of nyc like aa has done to delta (atl & cvg).

Rather than wait for the agents to call me to rebook my ORD-EZE flight, I called in tonight to handle it now. I was put on a connection through MIA... not ideal, to be sure, but the agent couldn't get me on the nonstop from DFW. I'm a little disappointed that I won't get to try the FL in ORD as I don't think I will have any other international travel this year through a gateway that has an FL... oh well!

> Washigton/Reagan-Fayetteville, AK (American Eagle/MQ)

I think that would be AR. AK is Alaska. :)

My mistake on JFK-EZE - I thought it was a seasonal equipment rotation (our winter=777, our summer = 763). I flew it a couple of weeks ago and found it a great, easy flight (great Purser in J as well).

I hope that they don't touch either of YYZ and ATL. My parents live in YYZ and I routinely will catch the 7.05am flight to secure the early morning 738 or the 5.40pm 738 return to LGA - very easy upgrade route for a PLAT.

I also use the LGA-ATL flights a fair bit, as a portfolio company is based there. Flights I have been on seem full, but AA's KUP fare is much cheaper way to travel in First than the Delta offering.

Aside question - does ExpertFlyer retain inventory levels? It would be a very interesting application/utility to use that data to look at historical fares/loads.

New Route: DAL-ORD
 

New service from Dallas Love Field to Chicago O'Hare starting 02 July 2008, 6x daily. Oddly enough, the addition of this route seems to have escaped notice since it wasn't included in AA's press release, although it does appear in the revised timetable.

By the way, American Eagle can fly nonstop to Chicago from Love Field because the regional jets it uses at Love Field contain 50 seats, below the seating ceiling set by the Wright Amendment.

--------NEW SERVICE---------------

01JUN08

Dallas-Buffalo (American Eagle/MQ; seasonal through 03SEP08)

Fort Lauderdale-Kingston

02JUN08

Chicago-Moscow/Domodedovo

07JUL08

LaGuardia-Cedar Rapids (American Eagle/MQ)

Chicago-Dallas Love Field (American Eagle/MQ)

20NOV08

Miami-Antigua
Miami-Grenada

07APR09

Chicago-Beijing