American Airlines to end New York-Savannah flights
American Airlines is ending weekend-only service between New York LaGuardia and Savannah, citing losses on the route to the coastal city in Georgia.
The Oneworld alliance carrier will end its Saturday and Sunday flights between LaGuardia (LGA) and Savannah (SAV) on May 3, according to Cirium schedules and confirmed by American. The airline flew 44-seat Embraer ERJ-140 jets on the route, which it has served since 2018.
American spokeswoman Nichelle Barrett, when asked if the decision to end service was related to the pending early retirement of small regional jets like the ERJ-140, said the route was unprofitable. The carrier is being forced to remove four such aircraft earlier than expected because of the continued Boeing 737 MAX grounding and restrictions in company's contract with pilots.
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The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier faced a plethora of competition between New York and Savannah. The city is also served by Delta Air Lines from LaGuardia; both Delta and JetBlue Airways from New York John F. Kennedy (JFK); and Allegiant Air and United Airlines from Newark Liberty (EWR), Cirium schedules show.
American will continue to serve Savannah from Charlotte (CLT), Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), Chicago O'Hare (ORD), Miami (MIA), Philadelphia (PHL) and Washington Reagan National (DCA).
The airline's decision to end New York-Savannah flights comes a week after it disclosed that it would end another LaGuardia route. American is dropping Saturday-only service between LaGuardia and Bermuda (BDA) in May, which Barrett told TPG is also due to financial losses.
In January, American executives outlined plans to grow system capacity by 4-5% year-over-year in 2020. However, the combined impact of the MAX grounding and now the coronavirus, which has prompted flight suspensions to both Asia and Europe, may significantly reduce those plans.
Related: American Airlines may have to park regional jets as 737 MAX grounding drags on
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