American Airlines has announced it is cutting international services by 75% from March 16 to May 6. The reduction is in response to the downturn due to SARS-CoV-2/COVID-191 pandemic. It will also reduce domestic capacity by 20% in April and 30% in May. It will ground nearly all of it’s widebody fleet.
Almost all flights to Asia, Australia, Europe, New Zealand and South America will be suspended. The airline will still operate 1 flight a day from DFW-LHR, 1 flight a day from MIA-LHR and 3 flights from DFW-NRT.
Short-haul international flights to Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, Central America and northern South America are currently continuing as scheduled.
By region, the new schedule changes include the following:
Asia, effective March 16
- American will suspend all remaining flights to Asia, except for three flights per week from DFW to NRT
Australia and New Zealand, effective March 16
- Suspending service from Los Angeles (LAX) to Auckland (AKL) effective March 16, which was slated to end seasonal flying on March 28
- Suspending service from LAX to Sydney (SYD) effective March 16
Europe, phased suspension
- American will continue to operate one flight daily from DFW to LHR and MIA to LHR
- Suspending flights from New York (JFK), Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD), and LAX to LHR gradually over the next seven days to reaccommodate passengers and crew
- LHR, Dublin (DUB) and Manchester (MAN) flights from Charlotte (CLT), Philadelphia (PHL) and Phoenix (PHX) will be suspended faster, as these airports are not approved gateways by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Final eastbound flights from CLT, PHL and PHX will be on March 15; final westbound flights returning from LHR, DUB and MAN will depart March 16
- Continued suspensions in other parts of Europe, as previously announced, including the delayed start of some seasonal routes as well as flights to and from Amsterdam (AMS), Barcelona (BCN), Frankfurt (FRA), Madrid (MAD) and Munich (MUC) Paris (CDG) and Zurich (ZRH) through early May, or later, based on guidance from the U.S. government and customer demand
South America, effective March 16
- Suspending service from JFK and MIA to Rio de Janeiro (GIG) and Georgetown, Guyana (GEO)
- Suspending service from DFW, JFK and MIA to São Paulo (GRU)
Suspending service from DFW and MIA to:
- Chile: Santiago (SCL)
- Colombia: Bogota (BOG)
- Ecuador: Guayaquil (GYE) and Quito (UIO)
- Peru: Lima (LIM)
Suspending service from MIA to:
- Brazil: Brasilia (BSB) and Manaus (MAO)
- Colombia: Barranquilla (BAQ), Cartagena (CTG), Cali (CLO), Medellin (MDE) and Pereira (PEI)
1According to the World Health Organisation SARS-CoV-2 is the name of the pandemic virus while COVID-19 is the name of the disease it causes