American Airlines Reveals Miami Expansion

By: Ben Schlappig

Updated: September 23, 2021
Published: July 4, 2021

22 comments

While American Airlines is the dominant airline in Miami, the airline has been facing increased competition. American has just announced a sizable expansion in Miami this winter, which includes new routes and increased capacity in existing markets.

In this post:

Miami is becoming a more competitive market

Historically American faced little competition in Miami, at least domestically, though that’s something that has been changing in recent years, and in particular during the pandemic:

With Delta Air Lines having purchased a 20% stake in LATAM, the airline is ramping up its presence in Miami
JetBlue Airways has launched Miami flights, after historically only serving Fort Lauderdale
Southwest Airlines has launched Miami flights, after historically only serving Fort Lauderdale
Spirit Airlines is launching Miami flights, after historically only serving Fort Lauderdale

It’s interesting to see the trend of airlines moving a bit further south from Fort Lauderdale to Miami, since historically airlines only chose one airport or the other.

Spirit Airlines is adding 30 routes from Miami

American’s new routes & frequencies out of Miami

American has this weekend put flights on sale that help the carrier grow its footprint in Miami. This includes two new international routes, six new domestic routes, and added frequencies in existing markets. When you add it all up, American will operate up to 341 daily flights out of Miami this coming winter.

All of these new flights should already be bookable on aa.com. Let’s go over the details.

Two new international routes out of Miami

While they’re not long haul, American is adding year-round flights from Miami to:

Chetumal, Mexico (CTM) as of December 1, 2021; the flight will operate 2x weekly with E175s
San Andres Island, Colombia (ADZ) as of December 4, 2021; the flight will operate 2x weekly with E175s

With these updates, American will serve 28 destinations in Mexico and seven destinations in Colombia, which is quite impressive. I find the San Andres Island addition in particular to be quite interesting — has anyone been?

American is adding two international routes from Miami

Six new domestic routes out of Miami

American is adding domestic routes from Miami to:

Albany (ALB) between November 6, 2021, and April 2, 2022; the flight will operate Saturdays with E175s
Burlington (BTV) between November 6, 2021, and April 2, 2022; the flight will operate Saturdays with E175s
Madison (MSN) between November 6, 2021, and April 2, 2022; the flight will operate Saturdays with E175s
Salt Lake City (SLC) between December 16, 2021, and April 4, 2022; the flight will operate daily with 737-800s
Syracuse (SYR) between November 6, 2021, and April 2, 2022; the flight will operate Saturdays with E175s
Tulsa (TUL) year-round starting November 6, 2021; the flight will operate Saturdays with E175s

I’d say the only truly significant addition here is the Salt Lake City flight (which is clearly targeted at Delta), since it’s a daily flight with a 737. The other flights are cool too, but with a once-weekly service using a regional jet, it’s hard to get too excited. The other routes definitely give me the vibe that American is trying to keep Breeze Airways away.

American is adding six domestic routes from Miami

Increased frequencies on existing routes out of Miami

As of November 2, 2021, American will be increasing frequencies from Miami to the following destinations:

Baltimore (BWI) is increasing from 2x daily to 3x daily
Cleveland (CLE) is increasing from 2x daily to 3x daily
Detroit (DTW) is increasing from 2x daily to 3x daily
Guatemala City (GUA) is increasing from 2x daily to 3x daily
Jacksonville (JAX) is increasing from 5x daily to 7x daily
Nashville (BNA) is increasing from 3x daily to 5x daily
New Orleans (MSY) is increasing from 4x daily to 5x daily
Orlando (MCO) is increasing from 6x daily to 10x daily
Raleigh-Durham (RDU) is increasing from 4x daily to 5x daily
San Juan (SJU) is increasing from 5x daily to 6x daily
San Jose (SJO) is increasing from 2x daily to 3x daily
San Pedro Sula (SAP) is increasing from 2x daily to 3x daily
Santo Domingo (SDQ) is increasing from 4x daily to 6x daily
Tampa (TPA) increasing from 5x daily to 8x daily

Those are some pretty significant frequency increases, particularly on the flights within Florida. For example, Orlando is getting an extra four daily flights, while Tampa is getting an extra three daily flights.

American is increasing frequencies in existing markets

Bottom line

American Airlines is expanding even further in Miami, with the addition of eight new routes, and increased frequencies in existing markets. Clearly this is intended as a competitive response to all the new routes that have been added to Miami in recent months.

What do you make of American’s expansion out of Miami?

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Jazz19 Guest

July 31, 2021, 12:44 am

How does San Diego still only have 1x day on AA from Miami? And eastbound it's a red-eye! (Might be timed for connections but terrible for local business traffic).

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Anonymous Guest

July 23, 2021, 8:45 pm

American is TERRIBLE. I say that as an employee. After the pandemic this company is so greedy and they will do anything to save money on staffing. Every department is so thoroughly abused. Most of us come in and get extended to the maximum 16 hours per day. There's days when I feel like breaking down and I rarely get to see my spouse. This airline doesn't care. They want to slim down the staffing schedule to save money and expand the flight schedule but not have enough people to work it. I say it every day it blows my mind how this airline is still in business. The abuse we suffer from the poor organization of this company and how they have zero regard for their employees or customers for that matter is just astounding. They spent all that bailout money cramming more seats in their planes rather than managing their staffing like they were supposed to. I'm applying at any other airline job I can find and even considering leaving the industry because I've had enough. Hands down the worst and greediest company I've ever worked for. Wish someone would do a story exposing them. I'd happily contribute.

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Sharika Guest

July 6, 2021, 10:53 pm

San Andres Island is a beautiful low lying island with an interesting history and culture. It has Afro-Caribbean population known as Raizales who speak Creole English, English, and Spanish alongside mainland Latinos. Some of the Raizales belong to the First Baptist Church with a opportunity to listen to their church music. Tourism has been geared largely to Latin American and a few European tourists. They have not experienced many Americans. This is not Grand Cayman or Aruba in terms of infrastructure. Think Cahuita in Costa Rica or even Bocas del Toro. Spent 20 years traveling, living, and writing about the island.

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Chrales Guest

July 6, 2021, 9:09 pm

Live in San Diego, but have been to San Andres many times starting back in 1985. Avianca provided non-stop MIA-ADZ weekly service back in the early 90's for a short time using 727's, then bailed. I think ACES or SAM tried that route also. NEOS used to fly non-stop from Milan MXP-ADZ seasonally 1x weekly (Talk about a "long, thin-route"). Haven't been there since hurricane IOTA and Providencia basically got flattened. Maybe they can support it on the E175's? However, this could turn into another MIA-CUZ route that only lasted a short time.

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Ecktor Guest

July 5, 2021, 1:37 pm

San Aandres, one of the few Islands really in the Caribbean and not very well known by many in the Americas, mostly European turis and some Argentinians

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