With the price of aviation fuel on the rise again, airlines are looking for ways to stay (very) profitable—and that means tightening the belt onboard, raising fares, both highly unpopular—or, for the moment, reining in capacity on less-profitable flights.
That's what's behind a number of American Airline international route changes just announced. They include dropping service from Chicago to Shanghai and Beijing, and cutting back flights to Tokyo Narita from daily to three days a week. Flights to all three from DFW and Los Angeles will continue.
Vasu Raja, AA's VP for Network and Schedule Planning, said in a statement that "These adjustments to Asia service are necessary in this high fuel cost environment, but we remain committed to the network we've worked hard to build." That includes requesting a 'dormancy waiver' from the government that would allow AA to reclaim the routes later.
In a number of other adjustments to its international service, AA is dropping Glasgow, Scotland and Puebla, Mexico but adding three European cities where it sees a profitable opportunity: Berlin, Bologna and Dubrovnik, Croatia. All three will be served from Philadelphia. For Bologna and Dubrovnik, AA will be the only non-stop carrier from North America. Philadelphia is also losing some routes, including Glasgow, Munich and Frankfurt.
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