American Airlines is giving customers looking to escape to the great outdoors this winter more options. The Fort Worth based carrier has added two new destinations to its route map and added new routes between existing destinations.
Jason Reisinger, American’s Managing Director of Global Network Planning, said this about the launch of the new routes:
“American is focused on giving our customers the most options to pick the perfect vacation destination, and now there are even more ways to turn travel dreams into reality. Earning AAdvantage miles and status with American’s new summer routes is the perfect setup to planning winter holidays with friends and family.”
New Routes for Ski Season
Beginning December 18, 2025, American Airlines will launch daily, seasonal, service to Sun Valley, Idaho (SUN) from its hubs in Chicago (ORD) and Phoenix (PHX). All of the carrier’s flights to Sun Valley’s Friedman Memorial Airport will operate using dual-class regional jet aircraft. Flights will operate through April 6, 2026.
In addition to the new Sun Valley service, American has added flights between Aspen/Pitkin County Airport (ASE) and Charlotte (CLT) with 3x weekly service on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays this winter on CRJ-700 aircraft and extended its daily service between Missoula, Montana (MSO) and Chicago (ORD) using Embraer 175 aircraft.
More Routes for the Western United States
Out west, American is boosting service to Santa Fe, New Mexico (SAF) with new routes to Chicago and Los Angeles (LAX). The Chicago flight will operate seasonally between December 18, 2025 and January 6, 2026 while the Los Angeles flight will operate year round. These new routes will compliment American’s existing service to Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) and Phoenix.
American is also adding a new destination in California with the introduction of service to Santa Maria, California (SMX). American Eagle will operate 2x daily flights between Santa Maria and Phoenix on October 15, 2025 using CRJ-900 aircraft. It will be the only global airline operating to the airport.
Fort Myers for the Holidays
Finally, American is adding holiday flights between Phoenix and Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) in Fort Myers. Flights will operate around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays with daily service on Boeing 737 aircraft.
Specifically, the flights will operate between November 20 and December 3, 2025 and December 18 through January 6, 2026. All of the flights listed above will go on sale June 30, 2025.
Summary
It may be 90+ degrees in Texas, but American is already planning for the busy holiday travel and winter ski seasons. The airline is adding two new destinations to its network and is adding six new routes for travelers this winter.
While it’s certainly nice that services are being initiated or augmented, what I find problematic is the utter lack of transparency about what services are being cut to facilitate this. Unless the influx of new airplanes made this possible then some cities are losing air service. Naturally I don’t expect the same hoopla about that as that for some brand new route I would like an accompanying mention of what’s getting killed off.
With most of them being seasonal I would assume shifts in capacity from summer seasonal routes. I don’t know all of the details regarding AA’s fleet but I’d assume they are reducing frequencies on other routes that underperform during this period to facilitate the new additions. If they add in Santa Fe, they can pull back in Albuquerque, etc.