American Airlines adds 4 routes, new destination in latest regional expansion

Small regional airports are big winners in American's latest adjustment to its network.

The Fort Worth-based carrier will load four new flights over the weekend, two of which connect to a new dot on its route map, according to American spokesperson Nichelle Barrett.

Columbus, Georgia (CSG) — the new destination — lands service from two of American's largest hubs, Charlotte (CLT) and Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW). Both flights will be operated by regional aircraft, a CRJ-700 from CLT and a CRJ-900 from DFW.

Despite technically being branded as a new destination, AA last served Columbus nearly a decade ago. Cirium schedules show that American flew two daily flights between DFW and CSG from July 2010 to June 2013, before pulling out of the city entirely. That left Delta as the sole carrier serving CSG, with multiple daily flights from its Atlanta fortress hub.

Now, the two rivals will go head-to-head for traffic, as both will funnel local passengers through their respective hubs to other domestic and international destinations.

Elsewhere, American is adding service to two existing cities. The first, El Paso, Texas (ELP), will get a new route from Charlotte, bringing American's total number of nonstop options to five. American will deploy a Boeing 737-800 for the 1,482-mile flight.

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The carrier already serves ELP from four hubs, Chicago (ORD), Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), Los Angeles (LAX) and Phoenix (PHX), per Cirium schedules. By adding Charlotte, the carrier can blanket El Paso with plenty of connectivity across the country.

More AA growth: 17 new routes for the summer

Upstate New York is also getting a new AA route. The carrier's American Eagle subsidiary will connect Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and Syracuse (SYR) with an Embraer 175. This also technically represents a service resumption for American, as Cirium schedules show American last flew the route from August 2005 to September 2008.

DFW will become the carrier's longest flight from Syracuse. In addition to DFW, the carrier has flights scheduled to Boston (BOS), Charlotte (CLT), Chicago (ORD), Philadelphia (PHL) and Washington Reagan National (DCA).

With a new flight to DFW, the carrier can offer broader connectivity for Syracuse-based flyers heading to points across the country, as well as those booking short- and long-haul international trips.

The new routes will be available for sale on May 3, and they all launch on Aug. 17.