American Airlines will fly less than it would like to across the Atlantic in summer 2022. Looking at the airline’s operations to Europe, the Middle East, and India, it will fly roughly 61 departures per day from the United States. This will include service to the primary core markets across the Atlantic. Notably, American will have a relatively slim offering in many leisure European markets it flew to pre-crisis. Here is a look at American’s plans for the summer.
Number one by daily departures: New York
In summer 2022, New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) will feature up to thirteen daily transatlantic departures, according to data from Cirium. This includes flights to the following destinations (all destinations served with once-daily flights unless otherwise noted)
- Athens (ATH) with a Boeing 777-200ER
- Barcelona (BCN) with a Boeing 777-200ER
- Paris (CDG) with a Boeing 777-300ER
- New Delhi (DEL) with a Boeing 777-300ER
- Doha (DOH) with a Boeing 777-300ER
- Rome (FCO) with a Boeing 777-200ER
- London-Heathrow (LHR) with three daily Boeing 777-300ER flights and one daily Boeing 777-200ER flight
- Madrid (MAD) with a Boeing 777-200ER
- Milan (MXP) with a Boeing 777-200ER
- Tel Aviv (TLV) with a Boeing 777-200ER
American will serve ten destinations this summer, which is larger than what the airline served in 2019 from New York. New additions include Athens, Tel Aviv, Doha, and New Delhi. Athens, Tel Aviv, and New Delhi primarily came off the strength of American’s Northeast Alliance partnership with JetBlue. Leveraging the Qatar Airways hub in Doha, American is adding that to its network this year.
American’s JFK hub primarily caters to the New York-originating customer. While it will sell connections on its own metal or via a combination of its flights and JetBlue, JFK is not designed to be American’s primary transatlantic connecting hub. That distinction goes to an airport just under 100 miles away as the crow flies.
Philadelphia: American’s primary transatlantic gateway
Just behind New York in terms of daily transatlantic departures in the summer is Philadelphia International Airport (PHL). This has been American’s primary transatlantic connecting hub and will continue to serve an important role moving forward. The airline will offer flights to the following destinations in this market, served once daily unless otherwise noted:
- Amsterdam (AMS) with a Boeing 787-8
- Athens (ATH) with a Boeing 787-8
- Barcelona (BCN) with a Boeing 787-8
- Paris (CDG) with a Boeing 787-8
- Dublin (DUB) with a Boeing 787-8
- Rome (FCO) with a Boeing 787-8
- London-Heathrow (LHR) twice-daily with a Boeing 787-9
- Lisbon (LIS) with a Boeing 787-8
- Madrid (MAD) with a Boeing 787-8
- Venice (VCE) with a Boeing 787-8
- Zurich (ZRH) with a Boeing 787-8
American will serve 11 transatlantic destinations from Philadelphia next year. This is down from the 19 destinations it served from PHL in 2019. Missing in 2022 are Bologna (BLQ), Budapest (BUD), Dubrovnik (DBV), Edinburgh (EDI), Manchester (MAN), Prague (PRG), Shannon (SNN), and Berlin (then-TXL).
Philadelphia has taken a bit of a hit, but it is not because of the expanded importance of JFK. American expects to continue offering service from both hubs across the Atlantic, but in 2022, it is a question of aircraft. In summer 2019, American Airlines flew the Airbus A330-200, A330-300, Boeing 767-300ER, and Boeing 757-200 on flights across the Atlantic.
None of those aircraft exist in American’s fleet today. It has used the Boeing 787 family of planes to replace all of its transatlantic flying from Philadelphia. However, for the Boeing 757, the replacement aircraft (Airbus A321XLR) is not due at American until next year at the soonest. Once it gets more long-haul capable aircraft, expect American to base some of them in Philadelphia and add new routes, or return old ones to the schedule.
Dallas/Fort Worth takes the third spot
In third place is American’s largest hub in the system: Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). With up to 11 departures per day this summer, it takes the third spot from a hub departure perspective. Here is where the airline will fly this summer from Dallas across the Atlantic (all flights once per day unless otherwise noted):
- Amsterdam (AMS) with a Boeing 777-200ER
- Paris (CDG) with a Boeing 787-9
- Dublin (DUB) with a Boeing 787-8
- Rome (FCO) with a Boeing 777-200ER
- Frankfurt (FRA) with a Boeing 777-200ER
- London-Heathrow (LHR) with four daily Boeing 777-300ER services
- Madrid (MAD) with a Boeing 777-200ER
- Tel Aviv (TLV) with three-weekly Boeing 777-200ER services
Compared to 2019, Munich and Reykjavik drop off while Tel Aviv is a new addition. However, the biggest changes are around the frequency of service. Madrid and Paris, for example, are down to daily service from twice-daily operations in 2019. London grows from two daily to four daily, however.
Dallas is American’s largest connecting hub complex. However, it is not the best from a transatlantic perspective. Just looking at traffic flows and non-circuitous routings, Dallas is best to capture traffic from the Southwestern United States and Mexico and Central America to Europe, plus the originating Dallas customer. Dallas is certainly another candidate for growth from American Airlines.
Fourth place: Chicago
Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) is American’s fourth-largest hub for transatlantic departures, with nine daily operations next summer (all flights once-daily unless otherwise noted):
- Athens (ATH) with a Boeing 787-8
- Barcelona (BCN) with a Boeing 787-8
- Paris (CDG) with a Boeing 787-9
- Dublin (DUB) with a Boeing 787-8
- Rome (FCO) with a Boeing 787-8
- London-Heathrow (LHR) with four daily Boeing 787-9 services
Compared to 2019, there is not a lot of change. London-Heathrow grows, while Venice is absent in 2021. Chicago is very much a hub in development for American Airlines. In summer 2020, American was supposed to launch new seasonal summer service from ORD to Krakow (KRK), Prague (PRG), and Budapest (BUD), all using Boeing 787-8 aircraft.
The new additions came as Chicago was being de-emphasized as a mixed transatlantic and transpacific hub for American. While Chicago is unlikely to eclipse Philadelphia, it serves as an excellent connecting point for Midwestern and some Mountain West travelers looking to head to Europe, coupled with being the primary airport serving the third-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Moving forward, Chicago is a likely candidate for some new long-haul flights from American across the Atlantic.
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Charlotte and Miami
In fifth place comes Charlotte-Douglas International Airport (CLT), and Miami International Airport (MIA) follows in sixth place. CLT will have seven daily nonstop flights to Europe this summer on Boeing 777-200ERs (once-daily unless otherwise noted)
- Dublin (DUB)
- Rome (FCO)
- Frankfurt (FRA)
- London-Heathrow (LHR) with two daily flights
- Madrid (MAD)
- Munich (MUC)
MIA follows with the following services (all flights once-daily unless otherwise noted):
- Barcelona (BCN) with a Boeing 787-8
- London-Heathrow (LHR) with a Boeing 777-300ER
- Madrid (MAD) with a Boeing 787-8
- Tel Aviv (TLV) with a Boeing 777-200ER [thrice-weekly service]
Charlotte and Miami are not large transatlantic gateways for American Airlines. Miami is primarily American’s launching pad for service to Latin America and the Caribbean. Charlotte is a strong domestic hub, though it works for southeastern US connections to Europe.
The remainders
American Airlines has other transatlantic flights scheduled this summer from other cities. Notably, each of these routes operates from London-Heathrow (LHR):
- Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) with one daily Boeing 777-200ER service
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) with two daily Boeing 777-300ER service
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) with one daily Boeing 777-200ER service
- Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) with one daily Boeing 777-200ER service
- Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) with one daily Boeing 777-200ER service
While there is plenty of demand from the United States to London, Heathrow is also one of American’s key hubs. Partner British Airways offers connections to points across Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, allowing American to sell one-stop access to a plethora of destinations.
American Airlines will have a sizable transatlantic schedule, but it is being forced to fly a reduced schedule compared to what it wants to. This is primarily a result of fleet-related moves that have impacted its schedule planning. The airline retired all of its Airbus A330s and Boeing 757s and 767s, leaving it with just Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft for long-haul international operations until the Airbus A321XLRs arrive.
Given the pause on 787 deliveries, American has cut back flights to places like Krakow, Dubrovnik, Budapest, and Prague that it previously severed or once planned to serve, and re-dedicated its widebodies to fly to partner hubs like London and Madrid, where passengers can connect onwards to a variety of destinations. American has put some 787s in the schedule that are due to arrive in April. However, if those aircraft do not arrive, it could lead to further transatlantic reductions.