Just before the August heat sets in, Cirium schedule data shows American Airlines cutting hundreds of flights for the month. The flights were set to originate at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and fly to destinations including Cleveland, Los Angeles, Albuquerque, and more. However, there’s more to the story, and American filled us in on the changes.
What caused the cancellations?
AZ Central reported on the cancellations, with data showing that American removed around 800 August flights from ORD, resulting in seat losses of about 76,000. Looking at the number of flights, Newark, Phoenix, Detroit, and Albuquerque had the most trips cancelled. In terms of lost seats, Orlando, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Newark were the most affected.
But American Airlines noted that the changes happened in May. The airline said, “American has not made any recent adjustments to its flight schedules for August. We are proud to offer up to 6,700 daily flights, more than any other airline, to help connect travelers to their next vacation before the summer season starts to wind down.”
American also shared the following:
- American’s approach to network and schedule planning is consistent with industry practices.
- A placeholder schedule is published 331 days in advance and then adjustments are made closer in based on the schedule we intend to operate.
- The airline publishes its final schedule approximately 100 days in advance.
- American is proud to offer customers the largest network of any U.S. airline, with up to 6,700 daily departures.
- This year, American has added more than 20 new destinations from Chicago, including the only nonstop service to Naples, Italy (NAP) from ORD, new flights to Spain, and popular destinations in Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America
- American will operate more than 480 peak daily departures from ORD this summer
Even with the flight cancellations, American will fly 16.5% more flights from ORD in August than in 2024.
