American Airlines Group Inc. is getting ready for summer travel by restoring more flights, offering double AAdvantage® miles for flights booked in June, re-opening key Admirals Club lounges, expanding flexible policies and continuing its robust health, well-being and cleaning procedures.
In response to improving demand for air travel, American is planning to fly 55% of its domestic schedule and nearly 20% of its international schedule in July 2020 compared to the same period last year. The airline’s July systemwide capacity amounts to approximately 40% of July 2019 flying.
American saw an increase in demand in May. By the last week of May, the airline carried a daily average of about 110,000 customers per day — an increase of 71% over the approximately 32,000 average daily customers the airline served in April.
| Time Period | Domestic schedule reduction vs. same time period in 2019 | Avg Daily Passengers | Avg Load Factor |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2020 | 65% | 32,154 | 15% |
| May 1-23, 2020 | 80% | 78,718 | 41% |
| May 24-29, 2020 | 80% | 110,330 | 55% |
Compared to the spring, American is increasing frequency of flying from hubs, including Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) to destinations customers are searching and booking most, with increased flying to major cities in Florida, Gulf Coast cities as well as mountain destinations. The airline also increased frequency of flying to Asheville, North Carolina (AVL), Savannah, Georgia (SAV), and Charleston, South Carolina (CHS) for business and leisure travelers.
As the nation’s favorite theme parks begin to open, American will offer more seats to Florida than any other airline in July. American has also added more flying to mountain destinations in Montana, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming as national parks and outdoor recreational spaces reopen and customer demand for these destinations continues to recover.
“We’re seeing a slow but steady rise in domestic demand. After a careful review of data, we’ve built a July schedule to match,” said Vasu Raja, American’s Senior Vice President of Network Strategy. “Our July schedule includes the smallest year-over-year capacity reduction since March. We’ll continue to look for prudent opportunities to restore service so our customers can travel whenever and wherever they are ready.”
The July schedule is ready to purchase on Sunday, June 7.
International Demand Slower to Return
While international demand continued to be diminished, today marked the return of service to eight international destinations. These include service from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to Amsterdam (AMS), Paris (CDG) and Frankfurt (FRA), as well as service from Miami (MIA) to Antigua (ANU) in the Caribbean and Guayaquil (GYE) and Quito (UIO) in South America. American also restored additional service to London (LHR) from Chicago (ORD) and New York (JFK).
American will delay the return of some previously announced international routes—including transatlantic service from Philadelphia (PHL) and CLT—to August. The airline will operate the following long-haul international flights in July.
Investments in Customer Experience: Select Admirals Clubs Reopen June 22
American Airlines will begin reopening Admirals Club lounges in phases, beginning June 22, after making improvements to adapt the clubs and product offerings to reinforce the well-being of customers and everyone who works in the clubs.
The following locations will open June 22 with pre-packaged snack offerings and a full-service bar for customers to enjoy complimentary and premium beverages. Hours vary by location and capacity and offerings could be limited due to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines or local orders or restrictions.
- Charlotte (CLT) — Concourse C
- Chicago (ORD) — Concourse H/K
- Dallas (DFW) — Terminal A and Terminal C
- Los Angeles (LAX) — Terminal 4
- New York (JFK) — Terminal B (only prepackaged food and water will be available, per local restrictions)
- New York (LGA) — Concourse D (only prepackaged food and water will be available, per local restrictions)
- Miami (MIA) — Gate D30
- Philadelphia (PHL) — Terminal B/C
- Phoenix (PHX) — Gate A7
- Washington, D.C. (DCA) — Terminal B
Additionally, the following Admirals Club lounges will reopen as service centers and will be available to offer travel assistance. Hours vary by location.
- Atlanta (ATL) — North Terminal, Concourse T
- Austin (AUS) — Gate 22
- Nashville (BNA) — Concourse C
- Boston (BOS) — Terminal B
- Dallas (DFW)—Terminal D
- Houston (IAH)—Terminal A
- Pittsburgh (PIT) — Main Lobby
- Raleigh-Durham (RDU) — Terminal 2
- Orlando (MCO) — Gate 55
- San Francisco (SFO) — Terminal 1
- Orange County (SNA) — Gate 8
- St. Louis (STL) — Concourse C
- Tampa (TPA) — Gate 85
Health and well-being improvements at Admirals Club lounges include:
- Plexiglass shields at reception and service desks.
- Foot-operated door openers to enable touchless operation of restroom doors (where feasible).
- Hand sanitizer stations for customers.
- Signage and floor decals to remind customers to practice social distancing.
American will continue to adhere to CDC guidelines, use enhanced cleaning measures and provide limited food and beverage offerings to help ensure the well-being of customers and team members.
Investments in Customer Well-Being: American’s Commitment to Clean
American continues to make investments to reassure customers their safety, well-being and peace of mind remain at the forefront of every decision the company makes.
American will continue robust cleaning procedures on all mainline departures, including expanded cleaning to disinfect seats, tray tables, seat buckles, air vents and other surfaces inside the aircraft. Other measures include electrostatic spraying of every surface of the interior of the aircraft, which eliminates 99.999% of viruses and bacteria within 10 minutes and creates a protective layer for up to seven days.
All American mainline aircraft and most regional aircraft are equipped with onboard HEPA filters that provide a complete air change every two to four minutes, similar to the standard for hospitals.
Book and Fly with Confidence: Increased Flexibility
Customers offered options to rebook on fuller flights
As demand for travel increases, American is deploying new tools to notify and allow customers booked on fuller flights to rebook on more open flights when available, all without incurring additional cost. On fuller eligible flights, a percentage of customers will be offered the option to rebook to a different flight during the check-in process.
No change fees for flights booked by June 30
American Airlines is providing customers additional flexibility by expanding waived change fees for customers booking tickets for any new travel purchased by June 30, 2020. Any first, business, Premium Economy, Main Cabin and AAdvantage® award tickets purchased on or before June 30, 2020, for future travel will not incur change fees prior to travel. Customers are allowed to change their origin and destination cities as part of this offer. Offer excludes Basic Economy tickets. Customers must pay any fare difference, if applicable, and fare rules may apply depending on the ticket.
American currently has a change fee waiver in place for all tickets, including Basic Economy, for travel through September 30, 2020.
Domestic Travel for All: Summer of deals
To make it easier to travel this summer, American has launched its Summer of Deals promotion, which includes double AAdvantage® miles for customers who sign up in advance and book flights during June for travel before Sept. 30, 2020, for a total of 10,000 bonus miles.
