American Airlines Downsizes Further In Austin By Pulling 5 More Routes (2024)

American Airlines is making additional cuts at Austin–Bergstrom International Airport (AUS). The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier has removed flights to Las Vegas, Orlando, New Orleans, Palm Springs, and Reno.

The development comes after the airline also planned to pull its service to Indianapolis in August. While American will still offer flights to several destinations from AUS, it has significantly downsized – cutting over 20 nonstop routes since November of last year.

Reducing service

Three routes have operated on a year-round schedule, while two have been offered seasonally. Beginning in October, American will no longer fly from AUS to Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas, Orlando International Airport (MCO), and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY). Seasonal routes to Reno–Tahoe International Airport (RNO) and Palm Springs International Airport (PSP) are not expected to return.

Photo:Robin Guess | Shutterstock

A spokesperson for the airline commented on the matter in a statement to Simple Flying late Saturday.

“As part of the continuous evaluation of our network, American will reduce service from Austin (AUS) starting in October. American will continue to offer customers access to our comprehensive global network of more than 350 destinations with one-stop connections. We’re proactively reaching out to impacted customers and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”

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A change of plans

American will conclude the LAS, MCO, and MSY routes on October 6th. The changes were filed just last week, according to aviation data and analytics firm Cirium. All routes operate once daily, with the Boeing 737-800 being deployed to LAS and MCO. The Embraer E175, operated by American’s wholly-owned regional subsidiary Envoy Air under the American Eagle brand, is utilized with near-daily frequencies to MSY.

Photo:LJ Jones | Shutterstock

Removing LAS and MCO from AUS will represent a loss of more than 10,300 monthly seats across each route. They are both popular routes, given that they are also operated by Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines. At one point, American operated the AUS-MCO route with the slightly smaller Airbus A319, but boosted capacity with the 737-800.

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The removal of MSY is a reduction of around 4,000 monthly seats.

Seasonal flights between AUS and PSP, as well as AUS and RNO, were also scheduled to be operated by the E175. American had planned to return the AUS-PSP route on October 7th, and offer daily flights through June 4, 2025. However, it has now axed those plans. The oneworld Alliance member would have been the only carrier to fly nonstop between the two destinations.

The AUS-RNO route is currently in operation and will conclude on August 5th. Initial plans saw the route returning on May 5, 2025, but American has since removed the flights from its schedule.

Connecting from hubs

Despite the route cuts, the US legacy carrier will continue to offer service to its hubs in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York-JFK, Philadelphia, and Phoenix. To compromise, the airline reportedly has plans to increase seat capacity to the hubs this winter, giving travelers one-stop connections to other destinations.

In recent years, American has treated AUS as somewhat of a focus city. It is one of the carrier’s few non-hub airports where it offers service to other markets. The airline currently serves Boston, Cancún, Orange County, and Los Cabos year-round, while seasonal service is operated to Aspen, Colorado, and Raleigh/Durham. American has made no indication of plans to remove those routes.