American Airlines is turning up the heat in South Florida with a big network expansion.
The carrier, which operates a hub in Miami, will add eight new routes this winter, one of which will be a brand-new pin for the airline’s route map.
Beginning Feb. 3, American will commence nonstop service to Governor’s Harbour in the Bahamas. Service will operate on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and it’ll technically represent a resumption for American. Cirium schedules show that the airline operated flights between the two airports in the winter of 2009.
In addition to the new international service, American is also boosting its domestic connectivity to and from Miami with the introduction of seven new routes, including flights from Miami to:
Buffalo (Saturdays only from Nov. 11, 2023, to March 30, 2024)
Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Saturdays only from Nov. 11, 2023, to March 30, 2024)
Lexington, Kentucky (Saturdays only from Nov. 11, 2023, to March 30, 2024)
Portland, Oregon (year-round daily service begins Nov. 5 — as previously reported)
Sacramento (year-round daily service begins Dec. 20)
Wichita (Saturdays only from Nov. 11, 2023, to March 30, 2024)
Wilmington, North Carolina (Saturdays only from Nov. 11, 2023, to March 30, 2024)
Aside from the new routes, American will also increase frequencies on existing domestic and international flights, with the full list available at the bottom of this story.
All told, American will offer a whopping 380 peak daily departures this winter, making this the largest schedule the airline has ever offered from Miami. American’s Miami operation covers 150 nonstop destinations, nearly half of which are located outside of the country.
Furthermore, American touts that it offers 85 unique destinations that are unserved by any other airline from Miami — a talking point that’s more important than ever for American.
That’s because, before the pandemic, Miami used to be a fortress hub for American. Nowadays, less so.
Miami International Airport (MIA) has seen some impressive growth in recent months from a host of airlines, but nothing comes close to what Spirit Airlines has brought to the market.
The ultra-low-cost carrier entered Miami for the first time in October 2021, and it brought low fares to 30 new nonstop destinations.
While Spirit now goes head-to-head against American on many routes, the airline is also up against some formidable competition from the nascent joint-venture partnership between Delta Air Lines and South American juggernaut LATAM.
Those two carriers officially combined forces in late 2019, pulling LATAM from American and the Oneworld alliance. Now that the tie-up has been approved by regulators, Delta and LATAM are well on their way to turning Miami into a gateway hub for access to Latin America — a region that American used to dominate.
Despite the increased competition, American is still by far the region’s biggest carrier, a fact that Juan Carlos Liscano, American’s vice president of Miami hub operations, repeated during an interview with TPG.
“We’ve been able to say we’re Miami’s hometown airline for quite some time, but in our 34-year history as a hub here in Miami, this will be our largest schedule ever,” said Liscano.
To support all the growth, American has hired 2,000 new Miami-based employees, bringing its regional total to a whopping 14,300 employees — the most in the airline’s history, Liscano shared.
In addition to flying locals living in Miami, American also wants to capitalize on the increased demand for travel to South Florida during the winter season, a trend that was especially pronounced during the pandemic when so many international destinations were closed.
While American Airlines may have Miami’s largest air network, it no longer has the naming rights to the city’s basketball arena, which is now called the Kaseya Center as part of a recently signed $117.4 million agreement.
Even though American didn’t renew its naming rights, the airline is still making moves in the trade and commerce industries in Miami, Liscano said. After all, American is the only airline with 150 nonstop destinations from the airport.
There are other ways to show the love for Miami and how we continue to demonstrate our commitment to both the growth and to Miami,” he added.