American Airlines trims 2022 network due to 787 delays

American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth) has announced a series of network cuts owing to B787 production line issues at Boeing (BOE, Chicago O’Hare) which have resulted in the suspension of deliveries.

“We will no longer serve Edinburgh, Scotland; Shannon, Ireland; or Hong Kong Int’l. We’ll continue to evaluate these routes as more aircraft become available and would like to be able to serve them again in the future. Many markets we operated in 2019 will not return this summer, such as Dubrovnik, Croatia, and Prague Václav Havel. We are temporarily, but significantly, reducing frequencies to Asia-Pacific cities such as Shanghai Pudong, Beijing and Sydney Kingsford Smith throughout our system. We are delaying the launch of service to new markets, such as Seattle Tacoma Int’l to Bangalore Int’l, India,” Chief Revenue Officer Vasu Raja said in a statement to staff.

The carrier called the suspension of B787 deliveries a “unique challenge” that will see it redeploy widebody aircraft from domestic and short-haul international networks to long-haul services. Raja underlined that American would deploy no single widebody aircraft on domestic or on short-haul flights alone. However, some aircraft will continue to ply a mix of such routes as well as long-haul services.

“Our B787 aircraft are an important part of our fleet. Despite this delay, we still have great confidence in the Dreamliner and continue to work with Boeing on when these planes can be ultimately delivered to us. In addition, Boeing has advised us that they will compensate American for their inability to deliver the aircraft,” Raja added.

The delivery of new-build B787s has been halted since May 2021 over quality concerns related to fuselage manufacturing. The Wall Street Journal reported, citing inside sources, that the deliveries are only expected to resume from April 1, 2022, at the earliest, although Boeing has yet to publicly communicate any such schedule. American Airlines operates twenty-four B787-8s and twenty-two B787-9s, and has an additional 13 and 30 of each type on firm order from the manufacturer (including direct purchases and leases via Boeing Capital), the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows. As of September 30, the airline expected three B787s in 2021 and another ten in 2022.

Instead of launching new routes, American Airlines plans to grow its strongest markets, such as the so-called MCLA region (Mexico, Caribbean, and Latin America). It also announced a new daily route from New York JFK to Doha Hamad Int’l in partnership with fellow Oneworld member Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad Int’l). The B777-300(ER)-operated services are due to begin on June 4, 2022, and will see American become the first US airline to serve Qatar.