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American Airlines Group is cutting some international flights and reducing the frequency of others because beleaguered planemaker Boeing won’t deliver as many widebody aircraft as planned this year.
The carrier won’t end service to any of its 55 long-haul international destinations. The moves are a result of receiving just three Boeing 787 Dreamliners this year, down from plans for six, American said in a statement Friday. The airline also “continues to evaluate network adjustments” as a result of receiving 16 smaller 737 Max planes in 2024, down from an expected 20.
“We’re making these adjustments now to ensure we’re able to reaccommodate customers on affected flights,” American said.
The reductions will come in the second half of this year and early in 2025.
The moves highlight the widening negative effect for airlines from a crisis that has enveloped Boeing this year, triggering an investigation by federal aviation safety regulators and a cap on its production of aircraft. Southwest Airlines, a long-time Boeing customer with an all-737 fleet, said Thursday that it was slowing growth and offering voluntary leaves to workers to help address “significant challenges” from reduced deliveries.
Among the changes, American will end seasonal flights early between John F. Kennedy International Airport and Athens, along with Philadelphia to Venice. Flights between JFK and Rome and JFK and Buenos Aires will be reduced to once daily.
The carrier will suspend JFK to Barcelona and Chicago to Paris on Sept. 3 and not resume either route until summer 2025. Dallas-Fort Worth to Dublin will end on Oct. 26 and restart next summer.
American said the changes won’t affect plans to increase 2024 flying capacity in the single digits over 2023.
Southwest earlier froze hiring and said it would end the year with 2,000 fewer employees than in 2023 as a result of operating a smaller number of planes. About 800 employees already have taken leaves of various length without pay to help reduce operating costs. With Boeing slowing output because of manufacturing-quality concerns, Southwest says the company has been “urgently” focused on finding more ways to lower costs and improve efficiencies.
CNBC earlier reported American’s flight reduction plans.
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Mary Schlangenstein, Bloomberg , 2024-04-29 12:03:03
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