Airline network planners may have taken an extended holiday break in January, but they were back in full force this month.
Nearly every major U.S. airline announced a slew of route map adjustments in February, including some new long-haul domestic routes (like Delta Air Lines' Boston-to-Honolulu flight) and some exciting international flights (like American Airlines' New York-to-Tokyo service).
It wasn't all good news in February, though, as some airlines filed service cuts to smaller cities like Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
You'll catch all the exciting network updates that you might've missed this month just below.
Alaska Airlines
Alaska didn't make too many moves this month, but the two that it did make were big ones.
The first — canceling service between San Francisco and Dallas — aligns with the carrier's push into leisure markets following the peak of the pandemic. Alaska has repeatedly said it's not seeing nearly as much business traffic as it did before the pandemic.
The second might spark (another) turf war with Delta. Alaska will add service from Portland to Delta's megahub in Atlanta.
The two carriers have had a rocky relationship over the past many years, and it'll be interesting to see if (and how) Delta responds.
Allegiant Air
Allegiant continues its push into underserved leisure markets with 10 new routes across 14 cities.
The big winners are the airline's bases in Los Angeles and Knoxville, Tennessee, which each received three new routes this month.
Two Florida destinations — Jacksonville and St. Petersburg — also received a slew of new routes.
Avelo Airlines
Avelo just posted its first profit since beginning operations in 2021, and what better way for the airline to celebrate than by announcing three tranches of network expansions?
Avelo is growing on the East Coast with four new routes from its New Haven, Connecticut, base, as well as opening an outstation in Albany, New York.
On the West Coast, the carrier is doubling its flight schedule from California's Sonoma County.
American Airlines
American's long-haul network got some TLC from the carrier's network planning department this month.
The airline began the month by announcing its hotly anticipated winter schedule, which includes new long-haul service from Dallas-Fort Worth to Brisbane, Australia. This route will be operated by American's new flagship Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which will feature all-new onboard products for the carrier.
And just a few days ago, the carrier formally unveiled the schedule for its new flights from New York to Tokyo. They'll take off on June 28 onboard a Boeing 777-200ER.
The airline also announced its return to Bridgetown, Barbados, this winter with two routes: one from New York and another from Philadelphia. This month, the airline also finally began flying to Ocho Rios in Jamaica, a route that was originally announced in 2022 but was postponed until this year.
Breeze Airways
America's other new airline startup, Breeze Airways, announced new service this month from Boston's "other" airport: Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (MHT) in New Hampshire.
Breeze will add three new routes from its newest destination: Charleston, South Carolina; Fort Myers, Florida, and Orlando.
Manchester sits about 55 miles from Boston, and the airport has lost lots of service during the pandemic.
Delta Air Lines
Delta also had a blockbuster month in February with a slew of back-to-back network expansions.
The airline began the month with four new routes to Latin America, followed by expanded domestic service. This includes the airline's new longest domestic route (Boston to Honolulu) and the airline's new longest route within the continental U.S. (Miami to Seattle).
The carrier then announced its newest long-haul destination, Brisbane, Australia, which it will serve from LA.
Finally, Delta added two one-off flights from Texas to Detroit for April's solar eclipse. The airline says these flights will fly a route that maximizes the opportunity of being in the eclipse path.
Frontier Airlines
February marked a turning point for Frontier's network. The airline is no longer seeing much room for growth in Las Vegas and Orlando, two cities that have seen a big expansion in airline capacity during and following the peak of the pandemic.
So, instead of boosting service to these bases, Frontier is adding a slew of new VFR (or visiting friends and relatives) markets from some of the nation's biggest airports.
Along the way, the airline will scrap 16 routes, many of which are from Las Vegas and Orlando. The carrier will exit two outstations: Harrisburg International Airport (MDT) in Pennsylvania and Los Cabos International Airport (SJD) in Mexico.
Southwest Airlines
Southwest had a pretty quiet February. The airline extended its booking schedule to November, and as part of the extension, it added two new seasonal routes.
The new routes are Memphis to Las Vegas and Nashville to Richmond, Virginia.
Spirit Airlines
Spirit's network continues to suffer due to ongoing operational constraints related to the defects on a number of Airbus A321neo engines manufactured by Pratt & Whitney.
This month, the airline filed plans to temporarily close its outstation at MHT. Spirit says it will return there, but there's no telling when exactly that will be.
Furthermore, these Pratt & Whitney engine issues will cause Spirit to postpone service to Tulum, Mexico. The issues are also partially to blame for Spirit's recent cancellation of Denver flights.
Sun Country
Sun County added two new destinations in February: Monterey Regional Airport (MRY) in California and MHT in New Hampshire.
Both airports will be served by flights from the airline's base at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP).
Sun County will also start offering commercial flights to Austin and Atlanta, but those will only be available on a one-off basis to help the airline reposition planes after charter services.
United Airlines
United's network saw a tranche of new domestic routes in February, including some key changes in connectivity in the Northeast.
The airline will restore some short-haul connectivity to its Dulles International Airport (IAD) hub near Washington, D.C., as it seeks smoother operations by moving several routes there from the already constrained Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).
The airline also announced that it'll restore Tel Aviv flights next month, and it filed plans to launch service between Guam and Tokyo.
Aeromexico
Aeromexico entered February with some bad news from the U.S. Department of Transporation: It needs to wind down its joint venture with Delta by late October.
While the future of this tie-up hangs in the balance, Aeromexico still added a new U.S. market — Tampa — in February.
Copa Airlines
Copa's Panama City base is known as the "Hub of the Americas," and it'll soon include service to two new destinations: Tulum and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.
Rumors have been swirling about further U.S. expansion from Copa, but no other markets were announced in February.
Emirates Airline
This was an exciting month for Emirates, as the airline added a new fifth-freedom flight between Miami and Bogota, Colombia (that's operated in conjunction with onward service to Dubai).
This will undoubtedly become the best way to fly commercially from the U.S. to the Colombian capital.
Volaris
Volaris, the budget Mexican carrier, announced this month that it would add a new twice-weekly route from McAllen, Texas, to Cancun beginning in June.
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