Uh oh… if you haven't booked your flight for your late summer trip and are just coasting along waiting for the time to feel right, be aware that the flight you're eyeing might get canceled on you. That’s because American Airlines is canceling hundreds of flights this summer, as reported by AZ Central.
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The affected flights are coming out of Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Cirium, an on-time-performance innovator powered by generative AI for airlines and airports, found that more than 80 routes out of O’Hare will be operating with fewer flights or fewer seats starting in August, representing about 800 flights and the loss of around 76,000 seats for passengers. Flying between the two airports in particular is troubling, with 30 fewer flights.
However, American Airlines told Men’s Journal that it had not made any adjustments to its August schedule.
Using industry standards, American publishes a placeholder schedule 331 days in advance and then adjusts it as the time gets closer, approximately 100 days in advance, a spokesperson told the Journal. The spokesperson pointed out that it has up to 67,000 daily departures, and that on the route between Phoenix and O’Hare, it offers up to nine flights a day, more than twice what the closest competitor offers, and has added 20 new routes out of Chicago, new flights to Spain and more flights to Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America.
Is it all just an AI mix-up? Nope: American Airlines did cut 70 weekly departures from its August schedule back in May, according to The Street. But the airline is also poised to lose four gates at O’Hare, and maybe these cuts are taking that loss into account. (American is suing the city of Chicago over what it says is a breach of contract over those gates.)
The 70 cut departures are said to be:
- O’Hare to Dallas/Fort Worth: Thirteen weekly departures.
- Chicago to Wilmington International Airport in North Carolina: Seven weekly departures.
- Chicago to El Paso International Airport in Texas: Seven weekly departures.
- Chicago to New York LaGuardia Airport: Six weekly departures.
- Chicago to Kansas City International Airport in Missouri: Five weekly departures.
- Chicago to Pittsburgh International Airport in Pennsylvania: Three weekly departures.
We’ve done the math over and over and this does not add up to 70 cut routes, but instead just 41. At any rate, the news isn’t great if Chicago’s your hub. Maybe start looking at Amtrak or start walking now?