American adds 5 new routes, including the longest route from LaGuardia and more

American Airlines is making some big changes to its network.

The Fort Worth-based airline filed plans over the weekend to launch five new routes, three of which are from its hub at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in New York. The updates were first seen in Cirium’s schedule and later confirmed by a spokesperson for the network.

American is also cutting a LaGuardia line, changing its widespread deployment strategy and making several other changes.

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You will find all the details below.

American adds 3 new LaGuardia routes

The highlight of the updates is the addition of three new routes from LaGuardia.

American will begin flying once a week on Saturdays from LGA to:

• Bozeman, Montana
• Calgary, Alberta
• Kalispell, Montana

All new routes will take off on June 7 and operate through August 30.

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American will deploy a Boeing 737 MAX 8 on all routes, with 16 first class reclining seats, 24 Main Cabin Extra economy seats and 132 standard economy seats.

At 2,035 miles, the flight from LaGuardia to Kalispell will become the longest route from LGA. Currently, Delta’s flight from LGA to Salt Lake City is the longest LGA route, at 1,982 miles, according to Cirium’s schedule.

These routes are somewhat rare for LaGuardia. That’s because Airport “perimeter rules”. which limits airlines to airports more than 1,500 miles away with just two exceptions – flights to Denver and any routes operating on Saturdays.

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All three of American’s new routes are more than 1,500 miles long, but the airline is taking advantage of the seventh exception to make the routes work.

(LaGuardia is Location is also limitedmeaning airlines need special takeoff and landing permits to operate flights there, but do not need seats for Saturday flights.)

Although some airlines have long tried to offer Saturday-only service from LaGuardia, they have not been successful because passengers generally prefer more frequency over more days. (Let’s see how Plain And Spirit has reduced their LaGuardia routes.)

This time, however, American is clearly targeting travelers.

“In the summer of 2025, American will launch five new routes to help connect customers to their favorite outdoor destinations. From convenient access to breathtaking glaciers, wildlife filled with inspiration and unique natural landscapes, travelers planning New Year’s resolutions will have more ways to enjoy the great outdoors from Nova Scotia to Montana,” a US spokesperson said. shared in a statement.

America adds 2 more routes

Continuing with the entertainment theme, American will also add two more Saturday-only routes for next summer.

The first, Chicago to Halifax, Nova Scotia, will take off on June 21 and operate until October 4. The second, Dallas/Fort Worth to Quebec, will operate from August 9 to 1 November.

Both routes will be operated by Embraer E175 regional jets. In fact, the flight from Dallas will become the longest US flight operated by the E175. (It measures 1,655 miles and will take about four hours.)

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The US cuts one LaGuardia line

While American is making exciting entertainment additions to its network, it comes at the expense of one route: the regional shortstop from LaGuardia to Philadelphia.

The route will end effective June 5.

The Americans confirmed the cuts with the following statement:

As part of our ongoing network evaluation, American will discontinue service between New York (LGA) and Philadelphia (PHL). Customers will continue to have access to more than 85 destinations from New York, including new service to outdoor entertainment destinations starting in 2025. We are proactively reaching out to impacted customers benefit from alternative travel arrangements.

While this short route connects two American hubs, some aviation observers have long considered it a “space taker.”

LaGuardia is one Airports are slot controlledmeaning daily departures and arrivals are limited across locations. These slots are typically allocated on a use-it-or-lose-it basis, so airlines must use all the slots in their portfolio or risk losing them to competitors.

During peak periods, airlines’ schedules are optimized to efficiently utilize all slots in their portfolio. However, during periods of weaker demand, airlines sometimes find lower-cost regional flights to “take up space.” Instead of selling or giving up a valuable slot, carriers will fill their schedules during weaker demand seasons with cheaper regional operations to take advantage of all their slots .

In this case, American may have found a better use of its LaGuardia slot than flying to Philly.

US wide-body jet delayed

of Americans Upcoming Boeing 787 Dreamliner deliveries was once again delayed, forcing the company to adjust its upcoming widebody delivery schedule to spring 2025.

As part of this weekend’s loading schedule, American will delay its Chicago to Paris restart from April to May. The airline will also reduce flights from three to two daily between Miami and Buenos Aires in April and temporarily suspended service between Miami and Paris in May.

American will not reduce service to any destinations as part of this adjustment.

“Due to ongoing Boeing 787 delivery delays, American is adjusting service on certain routes in spring 2025 to ensure we can again serve customers on affected flights . We will proactively contact our affected customers to offer alternative flights.” agreements and remains committed to minimizing the impact of these Boeing delays while continuing to deliver a comprehensive global network,” American said in a statement.

If it’s any consolation, American is extending the season for flights between Chicago and Barcelona. The route was originally supposed to end over Labor Day weekend, but it will now operate through October.

American said it was able to accommodate the additional flight “as part of optimizing our network and fleet.”

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