American Airlines is adjusting its international network, citing "soft" demand, the war in Ukraine, and COVID-19 for the changes.
American confirmed to Insider on Thursday the airline is dropping seven international routes this winter, many of which the carrier doesn't currently operate.
Of the seven routes, two — Seattle to Bangalore, India, and Dallas/Forth Worth to Tel Aviv, Israel — had been postponed since they were announced.
The over 8,000-mile flight to Bangalore was initially scheduled for October 2020, according to The Points Guy, but the pandemic delayed the launch. Now, the route is being further postponed due to airspace restrictions in Europe, American explained to Insider.
"We have paused the launch of scheduled service between Seattle and Bengaluru, India (BLR) until summer 2023," the spokesperson said. "As this route requires flying through airspace currently involved in a military conflict, we postponed the flight out of an abundance of caution."
The airline still serves New Delhi, India, from New York.
Service to Tel Aviv from Dallas/Forth Worth will be canceled. However, the company said it is "committed to Israel" and will continue flying to the country from Miami and New York.
American revealed it will also drop some routes to Colombia and Peru come November due to "reduced demand." The airline flew to Lima, Peru, from Dallas/Fort Worth, and to Cali and Medellin, Colombia, from New York. Despite the cuts, American will still have a presence in all three cities with its nonstop flights from Miami.
Flights to Beijing and Shanghai, China, have also been cut from Dallas/Fort Worth and Seattle, respectively, due to continued COVID-19 restrictions. According to the airline, twice-weekly service between Dallas/Fort Worth and Shanghai will continue.
Here is the full list of canceled routes:
- Between Seattle and Bangalore, India: postponed to summer 2023.
- Between Dallas/Fort Worth and Tel Aviv, Israel: will not launch.
- Between Dallas/Fort Worth and Lima, Peru: the route is canceled starting November 3.
- Between New York-JFK and Cali, Colombia: the route is canceled starting November 3.
- Between New York-JFK and Medellin, Colombia: the route is canceled starting November 3.
- Between Dallas/Fort Worth and Beijing: restarting in summer 2023.
- Between Dallas/Fort Worth and Shanghai: restarting in summer 2023.
The reductions come after American was forced to cancel five summer routes over delayed deliveries of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, like Philadelphia to Shannon, Ireland. However, a company spokesperson told Insider that none of its winter cuts were due to the delayed jet.
Despite the changes, there is some good news for American. In October, the carrier will bring back its seasonal service between Miami and Montevideo, Uruguay, the carrier told Insider. The flight will operate thrice-weekly but will increase to daily during the holidays.
The airline is also relaunching service to Auckland, New Zealand, in October. According to American, the carrier last flew the route from Los Angeles in 2020, but the continued service will be moved to Dallas/Fort Worth.
While American is dropping routes, rival United Airlines is currently rolling out the biggest international route expansion in its history. The carrier added five new routes in April, and just launched service to all-new destinations in May, including Amman, Jordan; Ponta Delgado Azores, Portugal; and Bergen, Norway, with two more cities coming in June.
