American Airlines is ending service between Miami (MIA) and Tel Aviv (TLV) in March after less than two years. The suspension of the long-haul route comes as the carrier has also confirmed that it is pulling out of three smaller US markets this spring, citing the ongoing pilot shortage.

Flights between Miami and Tel Aviv were launched by the oneworld alliance member in June 2021, initially operating three times per week onboard Boeing 777-200/200ER aircraft. Frequencies were increased to daily in October 2022 using 787-8s.

However, American plans to discontinue the 10,602-km (5,725-nm) route effective March 24. The airline said it has made the “difficult decision” as part of the “continuous evaluation” of its network.

“We will continue to operate daily service to Tel Aviv from New York’s John F Kennedy (JFK),” a statement said. “We’re proactively reaching out to customers affected by these changes to offer alternate travel arrangements.”

American’s exit from the Miami-Tel Aviv sector will leave El Al Israel Airlines as the sole provider of nonstop flights between the destinations. OAG Schedules Analyser data shows that the Israeli carrier serves the route five times per week with 787-9s.

According to figures provided by Sabre, O&D traffic between Miami and Tel Aviv totaled some 175,000 two-way passengers in 2019, equivalent to about 240 passengers per day each way. Preliminary data for the first 11 months of 2022 shows O&D traffic was about 166,000 passengers, 69% of whom traveled nonstop.

Alongside the suspension of this route, American is also ending flights to three US cities due to “the regional pilot shortage affecting the airline industry and soft demand.” The services—to: Columbus (CSG), Georgia; Del Rio (DRT), Texas; and Long Beach (LGB), California—will end at an as-yet undisclosed date in spring.

“We’re extremely grateful for the care and service our team members provided to our customers in these cities, and are working closely with them during this time,” a statement from American said.

OAG schedules show that American serves one destination from Del Rio, flying 12X-weekly to Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW). The airline’s exit will leave the airport without scheduled air service.

From Columbus, the carrier serves Charlotte (CTL) 11X-weekly and Dallas-Fort Worth daily at the present time. Once the routes end, Delta Air Lines’ service to Atlanta (ATL) will become CSG’s only scheduled flights.

At Long Beach, American has been flying to Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX) 19X-weekly. The route will continue to be served nonstop by Southwest Airlines.

Although American is cutting back on service to Tel Aviv and US regional markets, the airline has filed plans to resume a 2X-weekly nonstop route between Dallas-Fort Worth and Shanghai Pudong ({{PVG})) following the relaxation of travel restrictions to enter mainland China.

Flights will resume on March 27 using 777/777-200ER equipment. The carrier last served the route nonstop in February 2020.