American Airlines is adjusting its network plans over the next year to account for a "prolonged downturn in international travel," with summer 2021 long-haul capacity scheduled to be 25 percent lower than it was in 2019.
The plans include ending several routes, particularly shifting away some long-haul international service from Los Angeles International Airport to "concentrate on the hub's domestic strength," according to American. It no longer will fly from Los Angeles to Hong Kong, Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Beijing and Shanghai. Ending the Shanghai service is contingent on approval to move the Shanghai service to Seattle, where American also still intends to launch service to Bangalore and London next year in conjunction with its new partnership with Alaska Airlines.
Other routes that American will terminate include service from Charlotte to each Barcelona, Rome and Paris; Dallas-Fort Worth to Munich; Miami to both Brasilia and Milan; and Philadelphia to each Berlin, Budapest and Dubrovnik, Croatia. Additionally, American is canceling plans to launch service between Chicago and each Budapest, Prague and Krakow and between Philadelphia and Casablanca, Morocco.
With the service changes in Los Angeles, American will make Dallas-Fort Worth its major transpacific hub. Miami will remain the main hub for the Caribbean, Central and South America and Philadelphia the main hub for travel to Europe, once transatlantic restrictions are eased.
With its international network reduced, American plans to "further integrate into our partners' hubs" for connectivity, according to chief revenue officer Vasu Raja. It plans, for example, to resume its full schedule to London Heathrow by next year, where it will work with partner British Airways for further connectivity.
"Covid-19 has forced us to reevaluate our network," Raja said in a statement. "American will have a significantly smaller international network in the year ahead, but we are using this opportunity to hit reset and create a network using the strength of our strategic hubs that we can build on, be profitable on and grow on in this new environment."