American Airlines has just added a bunch of seasonal winter routes to warm weather destinations, and my goodness there are some interesting new options…
A new era of airline route planning
It’s a new world we live in, plain and simple. Airlines have radically changed their approaches to route planning, given the lack of business travel, along with the ever-changing international travel restrictions.
As airlines start to build their winter schedules, we’re seeing a consistent theme — airlines are adding point-to-point routes to warm weather destinations. Essentially every airline is looking a little bit like Allegiant when it comes to route planning.
What kind of routes are we talking about? Just to give a few examples of routes that have recently been announced:
- Alaska Airlines is adding Los Angeles to Fort Myers flights
- JetBlue Airways is adding Pittsburgh to Fort Lauderdale flights
- United Airlines is adding Milwaukee to Tampa flights
Well, American Airlines is the latest to add leisure routes to warm destinations, as the airline has loaded new flights into the schedule to Arizona, Florida, and Mexico.
American Airlines’ new seasonal winter routes
This winter, American Airlines is adding new routes to warm destinations, including:
- Nine new routes to Mexico, including five new routes to Cancun
- Five new routes to Miami
- Nine new routes to Phoenix
Let’s take a look at the details of these routes:
New American Airlines Mexico routes
American Airlines is adding new routes to Mexico between December 2020 and April 2021. The airline will add service to Cancun from the following cities:
- Columbus (CMH) — A319, Saturday only
- Indianapolis (IND) — 737, Saturday only
- Kansas City (MCI) — 737, Saturday only
- Raleigh (RDU) — 737, Saturday only
- St. Louis (STL) — 737, Saturday only
The airline will add service to Cabo San Lucas from the following cities:
- Austin (AUS) — 737, Saturday only
- New York (JFK) — 737, up to daily
- Sacramento (SMF) — A319, Saturday only
The airline will add service to Puerto Vallarta from the following city:
- Charlotte (CLT) — A319, Saturday only
I have a couple of thoughts here:
- It’s interesting to see American add New York to Cabo San Lucas just shortly after Eastern Airlines adds the route
- I feel like the immigration facility in Cancun is going to be a complete nightmare on Saturdays with the number of flights; check out my last experience with the Cancun immigration facility
New American Airlines Miami routes
American Airlines is adding new routes to Miami between November 2020 and April 2021. The airline will add service to Miami from the following cities:
- Dayton (DAY) — ERJ-145, Saturday only
- Lexington (LEX) — ERJ-145, Saturday only
- Milwaukee (MKE) — EMB-175, Saturday only
- Portland, Maine (PWM) — EMB-175, Saturday only
- Rochester (ROC) — EMB-175, Saturday only
New American Airlines Phoenix routes
American Airlines is adding new routes to Phoenix between November 2020 and April 2021. The airline will add service to Phoenix from the following cities:
- Billings (BIL) — CRJ-700, daily
- Bismarck (BIS) — CRJ-700, daily
- Calgary (YYC) — CRJ-900, daily
- Cincinnati (CVG) — A319, 4x weekly
- Cleveland (CLE) — 737, Saturday only
- Nashville (BNA) — A319, 4x daily
- Pittsburgh (PIT) — A319, daily
- Raleigh (RDU) — A320, daily
- Tulsa (TUL) — CRJ-900, daily
Bottom line
With the coronavirus pandemic far from over and business travel nowhere near a recovery, airlines have limited options for where they can fly their planes.
American Airlines just added about two dozen winter routes, which follow the industry trend. The airline will operate point-to-point routes for people looking for a bit of sun. The routes are all either domestic or to Mexico, where travel restrictions are relatively limited, at least as of now.
What do you make of American’s route additions?
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