US Airlines Announce Steep Cuts as Conditions Change

In swift moves to stay ahead of the mysterious COVID-19 superbug, airlines and to manage the chaotic changes in U.S. policy regarding entry requirements, American Airlines announced late Sunday a decision to route all passengers from abroad through approved gateways around the U.S.

That announcement came following a previous statement by American on Saturday that will implement a phased suspension of additional long-haul international flights from the U.S. starting today. This suspension will last through May 6 and was made in response to decreased demand and changes to U.S. government travel restrictions due to coronavirus (COVID-19). American Airlines will:

 Reduce international capacity by 75% year over year — from March 16 to May 6

 Continue to operate one flight daily from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to London (LHR), one flight daily from Miami (MIA) to LHR and three flights per week from DFW to Tokyo (NRT)

 Continue short-haul international flying, which includes flights to Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, Central America and certain markets in the northern part of South America, as scheduled

In addition to the international changes, the airline anticipates its domestic capacity in April will be reduced by 20% compared to last year and May’s domestic capacity will be reduced by 30% on a year over year basis.

Similarly, United said it is suspending flights to London from Houston and Denver starting today and, so far, expects to fly three daily flights to London and one daily flight to Dublin through the end of April. Delta Air Lines, meanwhile, has suspended its Detroit-London route and will suspend its JFK-Dublin route Wednesday, and will fly much-reduced trans-Atlantic schedule. Starting this week, Delta will continue to operate one daily flight between the following cities:  

• Atlanta to Amsterdam

• Atlanta to London-Heathrow

• Atlanta to Paris-Charles De Gaulle

• Detroit to Amsterdam

• New York-JFK to London-Heathrow  

As for American, the airline announced that any U.S. citizen or lawful U.S. permanent resident returning to the United States who has traveled to the United Kingdom or Ireland within the previous 14 days must enter the United States through an approved airport. American Airlines customers will be rebooked, if necessary, to one of those approved airports by our reservations or airport staff.

In the same statement, the airline gave a stiff warning that foreign nationals who have traveled to the United Kingdom or Ireland within the last two weeks will be denied permission to travel to the United States.

These entry requirements are in addition to those imposed by previous presidential proclamations which restricted entry to the U.S. from Iran, mainland China (excluding Hong Kong and Macau) and Schengen Area countries.

American is evaluating its current scheduled service to the United Kingdom and Ireland, and has not yet made any additional adjustments to its schedule at this time. American previously announced a schedule reduction to London on March 12, 2020. Thus, to date, the following countries are subject to restricted entry to the U.S.:

 United Kingdom and Ireland (after 11:59 p.m. ET on March 16)

 Schengen Area countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland

 Iran

 Mainland China (excluding Hong Kong and Macau)

Travelers coming into or returning to the U.S. from abroad will be routed through these gateway airports:

 Atlanta: Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)

 Boston: Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)

 Chicago: Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)

 Dallas/Fort Worth: Dallas/Fort Wort International Airport (DFW)

 Detroit: Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW)

 Honolulu: Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL)

 Los Angeles: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

 Miami: Miami International Airport (MIA)

 New York City: John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)

 Newark, N.J.: Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)

 San Francisco: San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

 Seattle: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)

 Washington, D.C.: Washington-Dulles International Airport (IAD)

As the airline implements a phased suspension of additional international flights from the U.S. starting this week. the suspension is only expected to extend into the first week of May. To that end, the airline will:

 Continue to operate one flight daily from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to London (LHR), one flight daily from Miami (MIA) to LHR and three flights per week from DFW to Tokyo (NRT)

 Continue short-haul international flying, which includes flights to Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, Central America and certain markets in the northern part of South America, as scheduled. In addition to the international changes, the airline anticipates its domestic capacity in April will be reduced by 20% compared to last year and May’s domestic capacity will be reduced by 30% on a year over year basis.

Australia and New Zealand

The airline is suspending service from Los Angeles (LAX) to Auckland (AKL) starting today, however, the service was slated to end seasonal flying on March 28. It is also suspending service from LAX to Sydney (SYD) effective today.

Europe, phased suspension

 American will continue to operate one flight daily from DFW to LHR and MIA to LHR.

 Suspending flights from New York (JFK), Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD), and LAX to LHR gradually over the next seven days to re-accommodate passengers and crew.

 LHR, Dublin (DUB) and Manchester (MAN) flights from Charlotte (CLT), Philadelphia (PHL) and Phoenix (PHX) will be suspended faster, as these airports are not approved gateways by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Final eastbound flights from CLT, PHL and PHX will be on March 15; final westbound flights returning from LHR, DUB and MAN will depart today.

 AA will continue suspensions in other parts of Europe, as previously announced, including the delayed start of some seasonal routes as well as flights to and from Amsterdam (AMS), Barcelona (BCN), Frankfurt (FRA), Madrid (MAD) and Munich (MUC) Paris (CDG) and Zurich (ZRH) through early May, or later, based on guidance from the U.S. government and customer demand.

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Flights to South America

 Suspending service from JFK and MIA to Rio de Janeiro (GIG) and Georgetown, Guyana (GEO)

 Suspending service from DFW, JFK and MIA to São Paulo (GRU)

 Suspending service from DFW and MIA to:

 Chile: Santiago (SCL)

 Colombia: Bogota (BOG)

 Ecuador: Guayaquil (GYE) and Quito (UIO)

 Peru: Lima (LIM)

 Suspending service from MIA to:

 Brazil: Brasilia (BSB) and Manaus (MAO)

 Colombia: Barranquilla (BAQ), Cartagena (CTG), Cali (CLO), Medellin (MDE) and Pereira (PEI)