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.
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?
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.
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.
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?
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).
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...
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.
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...
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.
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...
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.
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
BTV should be a year round destination from MIA !
I was wondering if you expected Delta to grow more out of Miami? I am a United 1k and Delta Platinum who recently relocated to Miami for part of the year (yes, another New Yorker). Anyways, I do a lot of international flying (mainly Europe) and being loyal to either United or Delta would require 1-2 connections on most routes. I am ok with one connection but two is a lot. Yes, I could fly...
I was wondering if you expected Delta to grow more out of Miami? I am a United 1k and Delta Platinum who recently relocated to Miami for part of the year (yes, another New Yorker). Anyways, I do a lot of international flying (mainly Europe) and being loyal to either United or Delta would require 1-2 connections on most routes. I am ok with one connection but two is a lot. Yes, I could fly UA/DL partners but I don’t like LH at all and also I am working towards lifetime status with UA and DL. As such, switching to AA would mean I have to start all over again. Anyways, long story short, I was wondering if you foresee a significant DL expansion out of Miami?
If one stop is not a dealbreaker, I’d imagine you’d be able to fly virtually anywhere with a DL stop in ATL.
Unfortunately not. VIE for example no DL service.
You could def fly one-stop Turkish MIA-IST-VIE and credit your miles to UA.
sounds like you need to go to San Andreas Island for your next trip Ben
Yes I have been in San Andres Islands (ADZ) many times, it has one of the most clear underwater views, amazing white sand beaches, a laid-back feeling, great seafood, small but guarantee a good relaxing time. You can take a short flight to the island of Providencia that is a truly small paradise as part of the archipelago of Sam Andres and Providencia.v
I would just love to see AA add more Caribbean flights and adjust the flight times so that those of us connecting through Miami don't have to spend the night there coming and going! A five night vacation becomes 7 nights.
I visited San Andres about 25 years ago. I was in Costa Rica at the time and the flight to ADZ was a short, inexpensive hop. It looked intriguing so I went for a few days.
For context, I've been to many, many Caribbean islands and much of Central America, I generally dislike and avoid most mass tourism spots. I thought San Andres was nice, just OK, not particularly spectacular. There were some decent beaches...
I visited San Andres about 25 years ago. I was in Costa Rica at the time and the flight to ADZ was a short, inexpensive hop. It looked intriguing so I went for a few days.
For context, I've been to many, many Caribbean islands and much of Central America, I generally dislike and avoid most mass tourism spots. I thought San Andres was nice, just OK, not particularly spectacular. There were some decent beaches -- again, just decent, not spectacular, including a decent beach right in town. The town itself was devoid of any charm, it was a typical small city you could find anywhere in Latin America, although without the obvious poverty one sees in most of the region. I saw no other Americans there at all -- not one (I'm sure that has changed). Mostly mainland Colombians and other vacationers from other South American countries. I met and hung out with with some folks from Argentina and Brazil.
There was one obvious "elephant in the room" that nobody talked about: the Colombian drug cartels, which apparently used the island both as a stopover for smuggling flights to the US, and I was told all the major cartel members had lavish vacation homes on the island, so they were there regularly. Lots of armed soldiers visible at the airport (nothing unique about that, it's Latin America). Upon landing at the airport, everyone's bags were lined up on the tarmac, you had to stand next to your bag while gun-totin' soldiers with drug-sniffing dogs worked their way down the line inspecting everyone and everything. Not an issue for most of us, but woe to anyone who was naive. I suspect that routine has evolved since then, too.
The town had a very heavy, very obvious party atmosphere, and the local culture (to the extent that I, as a gringo visitor, could tell) felt like a mix of Latino-Caribbean (closest parallel I had experienced would be Belize). It was clearly a party-all-night destination, though at the time, not much for gringos. The snorkeling was just OK, nothing special. Prices seemed high to me, compared to smaller destinations in the Caribbean and mainland Central America. Maybe that's a by-product of having Pablo Escobar and his pals for neighbors.
Worth noting: San Andres, and nearby island Providenciales (especially) got absolutely whacked very badly by a major hurricane last fall (Providenciales was all but flattened). Much of the infrastructure on Providenciales was completely flattened, I'm sure a lot of San Andres was badly damaged, too. Anyone contemplating a trip there now should be very aware the these islands are not well-connected to services even in the best of times, and you should not expect everything to be perfectly functional. Having nonstop flights to Miami every day will help them rebuild and "develop" more (though that may or may not be a good thing, depending on your perspective...I went there seeking out someplace that wasn't "over-touristed", and the more places start to resemble Cancun, the less attractive they are, at least to me. YMMV).)
As a kiteboarder, San Andres has long been on my radar. It’s a destination for kiters during certain times of the year and has some beautiful spots I’ve heard.
Very interesting. I’ve always wanted to go to ADZ. Booked flights to go on LATAM to ADZ from BOG as I heard it’s beautiful in October 2021. Looking forward to it.
I have always wanted to go to San Andres island. Hopefully demand increases so that it becomes daily, or at minimum gets 3 or 4/week such as Tue-Wed-Sat and perhaps Sunday too. In any case, AA deserves huge credit for the added destination to an already impressive selection of cities served in Colombia! I'm glad AA is giving attention to MIA. They started boosting flights right before COVID hit, so nice to see a resumption of that expansion.
San Andres Island its really beautiful and worth visiting.
MIA-SLC is a great add because there are lots of customers flying between SLC to Latin America.
San Andreas Island is also a great add. Congrats to American Airlines.
San Andres Island is beautiful!!
I believe Avianca had flights to San Andrés from Miami in the past?
Hi, Its interesting to see that AA adding Miami to San Andres flight. A few days ago, I was thinking US airlines could add a direct flight to San Andres. Looks like AA read my thoughts. Coming to San Andres, its the top beach domestic destination for Colombians. I got a chance to visit last December and I absolutely loved my stay and the beaches are top notch. I recommend its worth visiting.