American Airlines Is Adding Some Interesting New Routes To Latin America

American Airlines has long had a bigger route network to the Caribbean/Latin America than their competitors.  They used to have a huge base in San Juan, Puerto Rico that served the Caribbean.  While those days are long gone, there’s still plenty of places they fly in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and South America.  That coverage has long been dominated by their East Coast hubs.

Now, they appear to be expanding across multiple hubs and all across the US.  One Mile at a Time details 5 new routes they’ve announced:

• American will fly between Los Angeles and Buenos Aires, Argentina, as of December 19, 2018, using a Boeing 787-9 (tickets go on sale April 2, 2018)
• American will fly between Dallas and Oaxaca, Mexico, as of December 19, 2018, using an Embraer 175 (tickets go on sale April 2, 2018)
• They will fly between Miami and Georgetown, Guyana, as of December 20, 2018, using an Airbus A319 (tickets go on sale April 2, 2018)
• American will fly between Miami and Pereira, Colombia, as of December 20, 2018, using an Airbus A319 (tickets go on sale April 17, 2018)
• American will fly between Miami and Cordoba, Argentina, as of April 2, 2019, using a Boeing 767-300 (tickets go on sale May 7, 2018)

At first, I thought some of those Miami routes looked a bit on the long side for an Airbus 319.  But, after looking they’re really no longer than a number of routes those planes operate in the US.  Some of these seem to be geared more towards business travel versus leisure routes.

I really like that Los Angeles to Buenos Aires route.  That gives folks on the West Coast a good way to get deep in South America without multiple connections.

All Good News, Right?

Not exactly.  The South American route network does take some hits.  Wandering Aramean digs in a bit here.  Belo Horizonte disappears from the route map.  I’ve never been, but more cities is better than less in my book.  Seth theorizes that the expected joint venture agreement ratification with LATAM may be driving these changes.  He’s likely on to something there.

The utilization of the 319s is really interesting to me here.  I would guess they can price these new routes with a decent amount of profit per seat sold.  I just wonder if they can fill the plane at those margins versus empty seats at higher prices.  That’s the debate about whether to spin up another frequency between Chicago and Denver.  Low-cost carriers make it tougher to compete in the US market.  That may also be why American is casting their lot further away.

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