American adds 3 regional routes, but cuts a new international flight
American Airlines is making some noteworthy network changes.
The Fort Worth-based carrier filed plans over the weekend to launch three new domestic routes, as first seen in Cirium schedules and later confirmed by a carrier spokesperson.
The routes include:
- Chicago to Bismarck, North Dakota
- Chicago to Boise, Idaho
- Phoenix to Appleton, Wisconsin
All three of the new routes will be operated by American Eagle affiliate Envoy Air on board an Embraer E175 regional jet. Flights to Bismarck and Boise will operate daily beginning June 5, 2025, while flights from Phoenix to Appleton will commence Feb. 15, 2025, but they'll only be operated on Saturdays.
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Interestingly, the new flight from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) to Appleton represents one of American's longest routes operated by a regional affiliate. At 1,463 miles, this roughly 3 1/2-hour flight might not be the most comfortable on board the E175 regional jet, especially since these jets are currently equipped with outdated air-to-ground Wi-Fi connectivity and limited entertainment options. (American will be retrofitting its regional jets with faster Wi-Fi in the coming months.)
Still, American's new Phoenix route from Appleton International Airport (ATW) will give some competition to ultra-low-cost carrier Allegiant Air, which currently flies nonstop from ATW to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (AZA) — a secondary airport for metro Phoenix.
While new routes are always exciting, American is making a big change in Tulum, Mexico, where the airline will cease flying from Charlotte effective Feb. 13, 2025.
Tulum is one of American's newest destinations. The airline just started flying there in March after Tulum's international airport formally opened following years of construction.
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As soon as the airport's opening drew near, U.S. airlines rushed to start adding flights there. For its part, American added service to Tulum from three domestic destinations: Charlotte, Dallas-Fort Worth and Miami.
American has long been the biggest U.S. airline serving Latin America (largely thanks to its massive Miami hub), so it wasn't necessarily surprising that the airline added three routes to Tulum. (United Airlines is the largest U.S. carrier in Tulum, with four routes from domestic hubs.)
In a statement confirming the cut, an American Airlines spokesperson shared that "as part of a continuous evaluation of our network, American has made the difficult decision to discontinue service between Charlotte (CLT) and Tulum, Mexico (TQO). American will continue to offer service from Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and Miami (MIA) to TQO."
For American, service from Dallas and Miami should be enough to cover most travelers looking for one-stop itineraries heading to Tulum. Though Charlotte is the airline's second-biggest hub, American flyers can still connect via Miami from many of the same cities had the airline kept the Charlotte route.
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"I think the whole industry getting in there all at the same time was too much capacity to absorb all at once we need to get people more familiar with Tulum - there are plenty of people familiar with Tulum, but we had way more seats than people familiar with Tulum, so you're seeing us and the whole industry scale back and take a step back a bit," said Brian Znotins, American's network chief, in a recent interview with TPG.
In other network news, American is making three notable changes to its Florida flying next summer. The airline will suspend several routes to the Sunshine State during what's typically the offseason for Florida travel. This includes Fort Lauderdale to Washington, D.C.; Miami to Westchester County north of New York City; and Key West to Chicago.
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- Everything you need to know about flying basic economy on American Airlines
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