Delta, American Airlines Cut Capacity

Delta and American Airlines have announced additional capacity cuts due to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. 

Delta is reducing its overall system capacity by 15 points versus what it had planned, with international capacity reduced by 20-25 percent and domestic capacity reduced by 10-15 percent. By region, the airline will reduce capacity by 65 percent on Pacific routes; 15 to 20 percent on transatlantic routes; 10 to 15 percent on domestic routes; and 7 percent on Latin American routes. Additional capacity adjustments are possible as the situation evolves, the airline noted. 

American Airlines, meanwhile, reports that it will reduce capacity for the summer peak by 10 percent versus its previous schedule, including a 55 percent reduction in transpacific capacity. The airline will also reduce its domestic capacity for April by 7.5 percent.

These new schedule changes from American include:

Asia

  • Suspending service to mainland China and Hong Kong (HKG) from Los Angeles (LAX) through the summer.
  • Suspending service to mainland China from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) through the summer.
  • Suspending service to HKG from DFW through June. DFW-HKG will resume with a reduced schedule in July.
  • Extending the suspension of service to Seoul, South Korea (ICN) from DFW into early May.
  • Flights to Tokyo’s Narita International Airport (NRT) and Haneda International Airport (HND) from LAX and DFW will be operated with smaller widebody aircraft beginning in May.

Europe

  • Suspending service to Rome (FCO) from Philadelphia (PHL) effective immediately through the end of April.
  • Extending the suspension of service to Milan (MXP), and suspending flights to FCO from Chicago (ORD) and Charlotte (CLT) through early summer.
  • Delaying the seasonal resumption of flights to Barcelona (BCN) from CLT and to Venice (VCE) from ORD to early June. Also delaying the seasonal resumption of flights to FCO from New York (JFK) and DFW through the end of April and suspending operation of our second daily flight from DFW to FCO for the summer.
  • Reducing service to Paris (CDG) and Madrid (MAD) for parts of May and June.

South America

  • Flights to Montevideo, Uruguay (MVD) from Miami (MIA) will become seasonal, with service ending in May and resuming in December.
  • Flights to Santiago, Chile (SCL) from DFW will be suspended through April.

Widebody aircraft will be redeployed on key domestic routes in American’s network. American will also introduce new seasonal service between ORD and Honolulu (HNL) this summer on a Boeing 787-9.

Additionally, American has extended its general change fee waiver through April. Any customer who purchased a ticket by March 1 for travel through April 30 will be able to rebook without change fees, although a difference in fare may apply. The offer is available on any of the airline’s fares through April 30, although the new ticket must be reissued on or before December 31 or 12 months from the original ticket date, whichever is earlier. 

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