This is hardly surprising, but also something I would have never expected to see a couple of years ago…
American beefs up Miami to Los Angeles schedule
Overnight American Airlines updated its schedule for May, and with this the airline has adjusted its schedule between Miami and Los Angeles. Between May 6 and June 2, 2021, American Airlines will operate 6x daily Boeing 777 flights between Miami and Los Angeles:
- The airline will fly four 777-200ERs daily, featuring 273 seats
- The airline will fly two 777-300ERs daily, featuring 304 seats
American will fly 777s 6x daily between MIA & LAX
What are the practical implications of this?
- All business & first class passengers will get fully flat beds
- 777s have premium economy, but American isn’t selling those seats as a distinct cabin; so if you book a Main Cabin Extra seat (which some elite members are entitled to for free) you can select a premium economy seat at no extra cost
- The two daily 777-300ERs even feature a four-cabin first class product
Two daily flights will feature a first class cabin
Back in the day American sometimes operated one daily 777 between Miami and Los Angeles, typically supplemented by A321s. Then during the pandemic we’ve seen the airline operate several daily 777s between the two cities, given the lack of demand for these planes in other markets.
But this will be the first time we see American exclusively operate 777s between the two airports, so that’s pretty major.
Those aren’t the only wide bodies in the schedule for May out of Miami domestically, as American will also fly 777s to :
- Boston (2x daily)
- New York JFK (4x daily)
- Philadelphia (1x daily)
- Dallas (2x daily)
Get a flat bed to many domestic destinations out of Miami
The great irony of American adding capacity
While a moderate airline recovery is hopefully around the corner with the current vaccine timeline, this also so perfectly captures the state the airline industry is currently in. American is adding significant capacity in a transcon market where it’s also selling tickets for $50 one-way.
And that actually represents a fare hike, because for a while we saw ~$30 one-way fares.
This really gets at how upside down the industry is right now. Imagine being in a situation where adding capacity with these kinds of fares makes sense. Obviously not everyone is paying fares that low, but even so, this is (unfortunately) probably still the best option that American has for utilizing these planes.
Ultimately American has to fly its 777s somewhere, especially to keep pilots current. So the math on this route really comes down to the marginal costs like fuel, rather than an aircraft lease cost (the plane will be leased either way), the crewing costs (since pilots and flight attendants are on the payroll either way), etc.
Miami is WILD right now
It’s no wonder everyone is going to Miami, because there’s no coronavirus there (note: I’m being sarcastic, but since this has confused some people, I guess I should spell it out). I don’t know how Governor DeathSantis accomplished it, but it really is incredible to see a city like Miami completely beat coronavirus — there are no restrictions, 100% capacity everywhere, nightclubs open, etc.
It’s almost as impressive as how Tanzania beat coronavirus (except Tanzania’s solution involved some sort of lemon and ginger herbal thing, while I’m pretty sure Miami’s solution just involves way too much cheap cologne, or something).
In all honesty, I’m a Miami resident, but I haven’t been living there for the past several months (more on that in a post later on). I recently returned to Miami for a commitment, and was in disbelief at the state of things. I love how the CDC warns of the risks of travel to Mexico (when many places have very strict restrictions in place), when Miami is like Mykonos in the summer of 2019.
And it’s not just that Miami has no restrictions, but it’s also full of people who are specifically seeking out the city because of the lack of restrictions. Perhaps there’s some comfort in assuming that most of these people have already had coronavirus, and therefore pose less of a risk to others?
Bottom line
American Airlines has updated its May schedule, and will exclusively fly 777s between Miami and Los Angeles. While American has operated some 777 service in the market in the past, this will be the first time that American exclusively operates 777s between the two cities.
Are you surprised to see how many 777s American is flying between Miami and Los Angeles?
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