A few days ago, American Airlines announced that it would reduce operations on several routes as of March 2022, affected by the lack of aircraft to cover the destinations.
Boeing’s signature product, the 787 Dreamliner, has stalled deliveries for nearly a year as a result of production problems with the model. «Without these aircraft, we simply will not be able to operate at the level we had planned,» said Vasu Raja, American’s Chief Revenue Officer, in a company internal memo obtained by Reuters’ David Shepardson.
See also: 787 production problems begin to impact airline operations
American, like several airlines around the world, bet on Boeing’s widebody as a cornerstone of its long-haul operations. At the beginning of last year, with the outbreak of the pandemic, American accelerated the retirement of its older aircraft, confident of a smooth pace of 787 deliveries to replace them. That did not happen: the airline took delivery of just one aircraft during a brief resumption of deliveries in early 2021, in which it was the only unit received for the year.
See also: La FAA issues first airworthiness directive on 787 quality issues
The reduction in flights will coincide with the return of several routes to Europe and the seasonal slowdown at the time. The adjustment may therefore benefit some destinations, but for some markets such as Argentina, Brazil, and Chile it will be a major impact.
Based on data obtained through the booking system and confirmed by the Cirium platform, the following routes that will be affected are:
- Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) – Buenos Aires/Ezeiza (EZE); reduced from 7 to 3 weekly flights, with Boeing 787-8 aircraft.
- Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) – Santiago de Chile (SCL); reduces from 7 to 3 weekly flights; replaces Boeing 777-200ER with Boeing 787-8 aircraft.
- Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) – Sao Paulo/Guarulhos (GRU); one flight daily; replaces Boeing 787-9 with Boeing 787-8 aircraft.
- Miami (MIA) – Buenos Aires/Ezeiza (EZE); reduces from 14 to 10 weekly flights, with Boeing 777-200ER and Boeing 787-8 aircraft.
- Miami (MIA) – Sao Paulo/Guarulhos (GRU); reduces from three to two daily flights, replaces Boeing 777-200ER with Boeing 787-8 aircraft, maintains one Boeing 777-300ER flight.
- New York (JFK) – Rio de Janeiro (GIG); route suspended as of April 2022.
- New York (JFK) – São Paulo/Guarulhos (GRU); one daily flight, replaces Boeing 777-300ER with Boeing 777-200ER.
The new schedule in all cases will be effective as of March and April 2022, and is subject to change.
