With travel restriction in almost all countries around the world are in place as part of the effort to contain the spread of COVID-19, American Airlines is looking to cut down its international flights by up to 60% this summer as a response to the slumping demand for travel and aviation services.
Together with other airlines, American Airlines have been minimizing its capacity to match the sharp drop in bookings and parking hundreds of planes as it grapples with reducing cost amid an unprecedented decline of demand.
“Nobody is booking travel,” Vasu Raja, American’s senior vice president of network strategy, said in a statement. “If we can reduce our capacity this summer, we can reduce our expenses.”
With an 80% decline compared with summer 2019, Trans-Pacific flights will most likely be the most affected by flight reductions while Trans-Atlantic flying will be down 65% and 48% between the U.S. and Latin America, respectively.
American Airlines is suspending all summer plans that have already been scheduled until 2021 and will postpone the launching of new routes. Before the pandemic, American announced new routes from Seattle to Bangalore, India, and between Los Angeles and Christchurch, New Zealand. These routes are now rescheduled to be launched in 2021 instead.
Raja added that the airline is evaluating domestic routes and would be canceling flights, too, if they deem necessary.
