American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth) will reduce its transpacific capacity at Los Angeles International by over a third as it shifts focus to developing the hub's "domestic strength".
The carrier said that it would cut five "underperforming" routes from Los Angeles, including three transpacific, namely to Hong Kong International, Beijing Capital, and Shanghai Pudong. The other two dropped destinations are Buenos Aires Ministro Pistarini and São Paulo Guarulhos. Services from Los Angeles to Sydney Kingsford Smith will resume during the Summer 2021 season, while flights to Auckland International are not due to recommence before the Winter 2021 season.
It added that Dallas/Fort Worth will remain its primary transpacific hub, although it will also strengthen the role of Seattle Tacoma International, where it recently established a partnership with forthcoming fellow Oneworld member Alaska Airlines (AS, Seattle Tacoma International). American Airlines reaffirmed plans to add a new route to Bengaluru International from Seattle, and announced a new service to Shanghai from the city (subject to government approval).
On the East Coast, the airline said that it would concentrate on Philadelphia International as its primary transatlantic hub going forward. Despite this claim, the airline confirmed it would drop three routes to Europe from the gateway (to Berlin Tegel, Budapest, and Dubrovnik), and has cancelled plans to launch services to Casablanca Mohamed V.
Although American Airlines intends to drop the Miami International-Brasília Juscelino Kubitschek International route, it confirmed that the Florida gateway would remain its main hub for its Caribbean and Latin American operations.
According to the ch-aviation capacities module, American Airlines is the largest operator at Los Angeles airport with a 20.8% market share by capacity scheduled for the week starting on September 7. However, its market share by international capacity scheduled for the same week is just 3.7%, with Air Canada, Volaris, Delta Air Lines, and WestJet all planning to sell more international capacity out of the West Coast gateway.
