Looming pandemic-era challenges has forced American Airlines to slash another set of regional routes.
On Friday, the Texas-based carrier confirmed to Insider that it is leaving three small markets — Del Rio, Texas; Columbus, Georgia; and Long Beach, California.
American has blamed the cuts, which were all operated by regional partners, on the ongoing pilot shortage and "soft demand."
"We're extremely grateful for the care and service our team members provided to our customers in these cities, and are working closely with them during this time," American told Insider. "We'll proactively reach out to customers scheduled to travel to offer alternate arrangements."
Del Rio, a tiny city in southern Texas with only about 35,000 people, is currently served by American from Dallas/Fort Worth. However, the airline's announced exit will leave Del Rio without any air service link to the rest of the country.
And, the market is not an Essential Air Service community, a US Department of Transportation program that subsidizes airlines to fly to certain regional airports to maintain connectivity.
Del Rio joins a growing list of 19 cities that American has dropped since the pandemic, the carrier confirmed to Insider. These include:
- Fairbanks, Alaska
- Arcata/Eureka, California
- Long Beach, California
- Oakland, California
- New Haven, Connecticut
- Columbus, Georgia
- Dubuque, Iowa
- Sioux City, Iowa
- Duluth, Minnesota
- Hattiesburg, Mississippi
- Meridian, Mississippi
- Joplin, Missouri
- Islip, New York
- Ithaca, New York
- New Windsor, New York
- Toledo, Ohio
- Williamsport, Pennsylvania
- Del Rio, Texas
- Cheyenne, Wyoming
While Del Rio is losing airline service entirely, Columbus and Long Beach will still be served by other carriers. Currently, American serves Long Beach from Phoenix and Columbus from Dallas/Fort Worth and Charlotte.
After the carrier leaves, Long Beach will still have routes from Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Hawaiian Airlines, while Columbus will be served by Delta, according to the airports.
Most of the cities American has cut over the past two years have been attributed to low demand and the pilot shortage, which became a common occurrence across competitors as well. In November 2021, United Airlines dropped 11 cities from its route map, while Delta slashed five in August 2022.
Since 2021, both American and United have also been forced to ground dozens of regional aircraft because they simply don't have enough pilots to fly them.
"As hard as it is for the people that live in these small towns to lose airline service, it is an unfortunate reality that airlines are not just going to serve a city out of civic responsibility," Henry Harteveldt, president and travel industry analyst of Atmosphere Research Group, told Insider in November 2021.
