It’s a sad day for American Airlines travelers in Austin as the carrier has completely dismantled what was a bustling focus city.
Austin saw a travel boom on the backside of the pandemic and American and other airlines took notice. The carrier built up quite the robust operation in 2021 and 2022, at one point operating almost forty routes to places like Oklahoma City (OKC), Reno/Tahoe (RNO), Puerto Vallarta (PVR), and more.
The wind down has occurred in stages and we reported on a massive round of cuts in July, which left the carrier with only 15 routes from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS). Now, the carrier has quietly removed even more routes from Austin, leaving it with service to American’s hubs and a couple of leisure destinations.
American is cutting the following routes in November 2024:
- Boston (BOS)
- Nashville (BNA)
- Raleigh/Durham (RDU)
It’s worth noting that Delta, which has made a major push into Austin, currently serves all of the routes listed above. In addition, multiple other carriers serve a variety of the routes American is eliminating.
In addition to the routes listed above, American will eliminate its service between Austin and Orange County (SNA) in January 2025.
With the cuts, American will only serve eight of the carrier’s hubs from Austin along with two leisure routes to Cancun (CUN) and San Jose del Cabo (SJD).
What’s Going On in Austin?
The aviation market in Austin has been on a roller coaster ride in recent years. We saw carriers flood the market with service during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, including a massive operation from American that primarily utilized Embraer E175 regional jets.
The airport also sees a widebody service to three destinations in Europe, Amsterdam (AMS), Frankfurt (FRA), and London-Heathrow (LHR). However, Virgin Atlantic eliminated its service citing demand, though British Airways just announced that it’ll go 2x daily on the route next summer.
Austin’s population has grown like crazy over the last ten years, though things have stagnated with a downturn in the tech industry and a softening housing market. American also wasn’t connecting many passengers through the airport and instead mostly relied on O&D traffic.
Austin’s Barbara Jordan Terminal, the main terminal at the airport (ULCCs Allegiant and Frontier operate from the South Terminal), is also bursting at the seams. The airport has plans for expansion and the upgrades can’t come fast enough.
Additionally, I can’t imagine that many of these routes were wildly profitable for American. The carrier operates its largest hub just up the road in Dallas/Ft. Worth and can easily connect travelers there with frequent frequencies between the two cities.
Delta has clearly indicated that it is willing to step up to the plate and waste money in the short term as it seeks to build up its own focus city. While American’s routes were far flung, Delta has chosen to add most of its flying closer to Austin, adding routes to Harlingen (HRL), McAllen (MFE), Midland/Odessa (MAF), and New Orleans (MSY) among others. SkyWest even opened a crew base in Austin to support Delta’s expansion.
Summary
American Airlines has officially ended its Austin focus city experiment with the elimination of six more flights. With the cuts, American will be down to operating routes to eight of its hubs and two leisure routes to Cancun (CUN) and San Jose del Cabo (SJD).
While it is unfortunate to see Austin lose so much service, all of the routes being eliminated are currently served by other airlines. Delta also seems poised to step in and fill the void being left by the Fort Worth based carrier. For now, we just have to sit back and wait to see what Delta does next.
