In a recent report, American Airlines said that it is continuing to operate with drastically decreased capacity in contrast to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. Despite increasing demand, the airline's domestic routes were down 14.5% in 2021, and it served below half of its foreign network compared to 2019.
"While demand for domestic and short-haul foreign markets has essentially rebounded to 2019 levels, the timing of a full recovery remains unknown. American will strive to balance its forward capacity with observable booking trends for future flights and will make additional capacity changes as warranted," In a recent report with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the airline stated.
The airline, which has been experiencing delays in the deployment of new aircraft, transported 165 million passengers in 2021, up from 95 million in 2020 and 215 million in 2019. Total capacity in 2021 will be 24.7% lower than in 2019.
As the busy summer season approaches, the Dallas/Fort Worth-based airline has dropped departures by approximately 19.1% and seats by approximately 17.5% for the month of May. Additionally, American will reduce the frequency and postpone several long-haul flights in order to align its offering with demand.
Ultimately, the Dallas/Fort Worth-based airline would fly a 10% greater schedule in May 2022 than in May 2021, with over 5,500 peak daily departures all through the month.
