American Airlines Gets DOT Approval To Operating Flights Between Los Angeles and Sao Paolo, Brazil
About a month ago, I wrote about the expectation that service between LAX and Sao Paolo, Brazil was for later this fall. There were still a few hurdles to clear, and Thursday American cleared another hurdle when the DOT issued a Show Cause Order for their requested new service.
The final approval is highly likely to occur and should be finished up in the next few weeks. The thing I find a bit interesting here is that US Airways is likely to receive approval to operate flights between Charlotte and Sao Paolo as well.
American Airlines already offers service to Sao Paolo from both JFK and Miami. When considering the upcoming American/US Airways merger, Charlotte really is just overkill for East Coast flights to Brazil IMHO. Don’t get me wrong, there’s tons of growth in Latin America. But, I don’t think all 3 routes survive. I think the sensible thing would be for US Airways not to bother spinning up Charlotte service, though they may be required by DOT to spin up something or lose it.
