American Airlines is adjusting to its long-haul network.
A carrier spokesman confirmed that the Fort Worth-based carrier is pulling out of the Miami to Tel Aviv market.
American will reach out to affected customers with rebooking options once the schedule change is posted.
The longest flight from its Miami hub was 6,603 miles. The route used to be flown by American on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays in the east.
The airline upgraded the route to daily service 16 months after launching it. The daily frequencies brought a big capacity boost to the market.
The initial reception was very good, but it has grown a lot. In an interview with ABC10 News, Juan Carlos Liscano, American's vice president of the Miami hub, said that the upgraded service was the main driver of their decision to go to daily service.
American is doing a 180 just three months later. A carrier spokesman gave an explanation when asked for it.
"As part of the continuous evaluation of our network, American Airlines has made the difficult decision to discontinue its Miami (MIA) – Tel Aviv (TLV) service effective March 24, 2023. We will continue to operate daily service to Tel Aviv from New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK). We’re proactively reaching out to customers affected by these changes to offer alternate travel arrangements."
American isn't giving much of a reason for the cut aside from its usual evaluation of the network.
It's likely to irk some travelers who booked this flight because they were confident that it would continue to operate on a daily basis.
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When American cuts Miami to Tel Aviv, it will allow Israeli flag carrier El Al to take all of the traffic.
The American isn't leaving the station completely. The carrier will continue to fly from JFK to New York every day.
The last time American flew to Tel Aviv was in January of 2016 from Philadelphia. Dallas/Fort Worth and Miami were going to be connected with Israel.
Brian Znotins, American's vice president of network planning, explained the rationale behind each one to TPG back in February 2021.
The Dallas/Fort Worth flight was supposed to launch in May 2022, but American canceled it in May of that year.
With the elimination of the Miami service, American will no longer have a flight to Israel.
That is very different from recent moves from American competitors. Delta will restart flights from Atlanta to Tel Aviv earlier than planned on March 26, 2023. Delta flies to Tel Aviv from New York as well.
In last weekend's schedule update, United added four new weekly flights from Chicago and San Francisco to their existing service to Israel.
From Newark and D.C., United flies to Tel Aviv.
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