American Airlines Wants to Try Again on Ecuador Flights From DFW
American Airlines wants to make a second go at serving Ecuador from its Dallas/Fort Worth hub.
The Oneworld Alliance carrier is seeking authority to begin flights to Guayaquil (GYE) and Quito (UIO) in Ecuador from Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) beginning in December, according to an application with the US Department of Transportation. If approved, American would operate thrice-weekly service to Guayaquil and four-times weekly service to Quito with Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
This is not American’s first attempt at serving Ecuador from Dallas/Fort Worth. Quito flights were offered from 2015 through August 2018, according to Diio by Cirium schedules.
“We’re always evaluating our network, looking at supply and demand,” says airline spokeswoman Nichelle Tait on the proposed routes. She adds that changes in the political and economic environment in Ecuador also impact the airline’s network decisions.
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Peter Cerda, IATA regional vice-president for the Americas, told FlightGlobal in 2018 that the then-new administration of Ecuador President Lenin Moreno was focused on opening the country to more foreign businesses.
"They now have a more business-friendly agenda. Ecuador was a sleeping market the last few years," said Cerda.
In addition Ecuador's economic opening, American has grown its Dallas/Fort Worth hub to more than 900 departures on peak days. This creates more connecting opportunities for the proposed flights to Guayaquil and Quito, says Tait.
The carrier plans to grow system capacity by roughly 2.5% year-over-year in 2019, with the majority of that concentrated at Dallas/Fort Worth.
American serves both Guayaquil and Quito from Miami, Diio schedules show. No other airlines serve the cities from Dallas.
