American Airlines To Suspend Multiple Routes, Blames Boeing 787 Delivery Delays

american 787
Credit: Lukas Wunderlich/Alamy Stock Photo

American Airlines, citing delayed deliveries of Boeing 787 aircraft, will suspend or reduce service on a series of long-haul routes for the 2024-25 northern hemisphere winter season.

Summer seasonal flights between New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Athens will be suspended from Sept. 3, earlier than planned. Also on that date, service between JFK and Barcelona will be suspended, with a planned resumption for the summer 2025 season.

American flights between Chicago O’Hare and Paris Charles de Gaulle will be suspended from Sept. 3, as well, with a planned resumption for the 2025 summer.    

Seasonal flights between Philadelphia and Venice, Italy, will be stopped from Oct. 5, earlier than planned.

American’s Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) base hub will see two major routes suspended from Oct. 26: Dublin and Rome Fiumicino (FCO). The airline plans to bring back both routes for the 2025 summer season. Winter seasonal service connecting DFW with Kona, Hawaii—which had been operated in the past—will not be flown this upcoming winter.

In addition to the suspensions, there will be a number of frequency adjustments. From Aug. 5, service between JFK and FCO will be reduced from 2X-daily to 1X-daily flights. JFK-Buenos Aires, Argentina, service will also operate just 1X-daily from Oct. 27. Miami-Rio de Janeiro Galeão service will be limited to 10X-weekly flights for the northern hemisphere winter season, with the exception of Dec. 16-Jan. 6.

Service on the Phoenix-Honolulu route will be operated, but no longer flown with a 787 aircraft during the winter season. But, American noted, the 787 could temporarily be used on the route between Nov. 16 and Dec. 2.

“As a result of ongoing Boeing 787 delivery delays, American is adjusting service on certain routes in the second half of 2024 and first quarter of 2025,” the airline said in response to a query. “We’re making these adjustments now to ensure we’re able to re-accommodate customers on affected flights. We’ll be proactively reaching out to impacted customers to offer alternate travel arrangements.”

The airline said it is committed to “mitigating the impact of these [787 delivery] delays while continuing to offer a comprehensive global network.”

American noted it will operate 55 long-haul international routes for the 2024-25 winter. The carrier said it will not be exiting any markets as result of the upcoming route adjustments.

Aaron Karp

Aaron Karp is a Contributing Editor to the Aviation Week Network.