American Airlines Continues To Fix Network
American Airlines, a Fort Worth-based carrier, has announced over 100 new daily segments from its hub at Chicago O’Hare and services on its Airbus A321XLR aircraft. For background, American Airlines has a domestic and transatlantic hub in Chicago and has served the airport for 100 years. The airline was challenged during the COVID-19 pandemic and failed to rebuild its hub to meet post-pandemic demand, falling behind competitor United Airlines. As a result, American Airlines has been posting losses in Chicago of $70 million. In an attempt to address this issue, American Airlines has been expanding its operations with increased frequencies and new regional routes.
The airline is adding 100 peak daily departures to its spring schedule with increased service in 75 markets, including Boston (BOS); Cincinnati, Ohio (CVG); Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW); Fort Myers, Florida (RSW); New Orleans, Louisiana (MSY); and Orlando, Florida (MCO). American Airlines is also doubling its service from ORD to popular spring break destinations like Las Vegas (LAS); Panama City, Florida (ECP); and Sarasota, Florida (SRQ), as well as offering more than twice as much service from ORD to Savannah, Georgia (SAV) and San Francisco (SFO) than what was originally available for spring 2026.
American Airlines announced today the extension of summer seasonal service from ORD to Dublin to operate about a month longer and Paris to operate three months longer than previous seasons, as well as a service expansion to Rome. The route will now be operated on Boeing 787-9 aircraft, detailing an increase in premium demand. American Airlines commenced a significant expansion at its O’Hare International Airport (ORD) in the summer of 2025, introducing a 20% increase in flights and a 22% augmentation in seating capacity compared to the 2024 summer schedule. Since then, the airline has incorporated nearly 30 new destinations into its ORD network, including Honolulu (HNL), Mexico City (MEX), Madrid (MAD), and Chicago’s sole nonstop service to Naples, Italy (NAP). Furthermore, American Airlines has doubled its service to warm-weather destinations in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America during the winter season, solidifying its position as the leading carrier connecting ORD to these regions. Additionally, the airline has enhanced frequencies to traditional business markets such as Seattle (SEA), Houston (IAH), Fayetteville/Bentonville, Arkansas (XNA), and others, providing customers with enhanced flexibility. American Airlines’ recent expansion at ORD fulfills this promise, augmenting tourism and business opportunities in Chicago while granting travelers from smaller markets access to an extensive global network and unparalleled flexibility. With the addition of services to destinations like Cedar Rapids, Iowa (CID), Bloomington, Illinois (BMI), Flint, Michigan (FNT), and more, American Airlines’ ORD hub presents opportunities for customers to expand their business reach and realize the feasibility of long-haul travel. As the nation’s largest dual-hub airport, ORD has historically benefited from robust competition among hub carriers, which maintains competitive fares and doubles the options available to travelers. With the introduction of three new peak daily flights to SFO and Cleveland (CLE), and two to Denver (DEN), customers now have an expanded range of travel options to and from Chicago. This enhanced connectivity not only increases choice but also significantly improves the overall travel experience. Notably, American Airlines maintained its exceptional on-time performance as the best hub carrier at the airport. Furthermore, the airline remains committed to attracting business travel from the airport through these new routes and ongoing enhancements.
In addition to enhancements from Chicago, the airline has new enhancements on the horizon, some announced and some unannounced. To begin, the airline has announced its intention to deploy its Airbus A321XLR aircraft on routes between Boston and both Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as New York and San Francisco. These routes were anticipated, as American Airlines is retiring the aircraft serving these routes, and the A321XLR was the only viable option from its fleet. Subsequently, I anticipate that the Airbus A321XLR will be deployed from either Boston or Philadelphia to Porto, Portugal. This deployment is forthcoming due to American Airlines’ announced interest in Porto. I believe it is likely to be Boston because the Portuguese community in Greater Boston comprises the largest foreign-born group from Europe. American Airlines already has the A321XLR in Boston, and they continue to open routes from Boston. Additionally, they have other successful European routes from Boston. Philadelphia is also a plausible option because it is American Airlines’ hybrid hub for transatlantic travel, providing perfectly timed connections to other European cities from Philadelphia (including the capital of Portugal, Lisbon) from American cities to justify the route. Ground and crew costs would also be lower. Following a route to Porto, I anticipate A321XLR routes from the East Coast to secondary European cities, such as Hamburg, Ibiza, Lyon, Birmingham, Brussels, Berlin, Warsaw, and others. The A321XLR is designed to enable airlines to serve smaller but long-distance destinations with low operating costs, which is why I foresee its arrival in the near future. Supplementing this, American announced last week that their restructuring its DFW schedule to allow for easier connections and better reliability all across the board.