Summary
- Dallas Fort Worth to Austin has more American flights in January than any other route, although two others come very close.
- On average, over half of the passengers on its top 10 routes connect to other flights.
- Twin-aisle equipment is used in six of the leading markets, although often minimally.
American Airlines is the world’s largest airline by many measures, including passengers, fleet, flights, seats for sale, and available seat miles. It is a true giant. Analysis of Cirium data for January shows that the oneworld carrier’s network comprises 1,092 routes: 831 domestic and 261 international.
American’s most-served markets
They are shown in the following table. While the 10 are ordinarily on the list regardless of the month, the order does change. In January, the 190-mile (306 km) link from Dallas Fort Worth to Austin is the most-served by departing flights. However, notice how few services separate the leading three markets this month.
Photo: Lorenzatx | Shutterstock
Eight of the top 10 routes had more than one in two passengers who transited, based on April-June 2023 data from the US Department of Transportation T-100 dataset. (It is the most recent available to me.) Given the quick overland duration and the number of daily flights, almost nine in ten Austin passengers transferred at American’s enormous Dallas hub. More on this below.
|
Routing |
Departures in January* |
Daily departures** |
Aircraft*** |
% who transit**** |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Dallas Fort Worth to Austin |
381 |
9 to 14 |
737-800, E175, A319, A320, A321ceo |
88% |
|
Dallas Fort Worth to Los Angeles |
377 |
10 to 14 |
A321ceo, A321neo, 777-200ER, 737-800, 777-300ER |
62% |
|
Dallas Fort Worth to Miami |
377 |
10 to 13 |
A321ceo, 737-800, A321neo, 787-8, 737 MAX 8, 777-200ER |
75% |
|
Dallas Fort Worth to San Antonio |
369 |
9 to 14 |
A321ceo, 737-800, A320, A319, E175 |
83% |
|
Dallas Fort Worth to Phoenix |
362 |
11 to 13 |
A321ceo, A321neo, 737-800, 777-200ER, 737 MAX 8 |
65% |
|
Charlotte to Orlando |
353 |
10 to 12 |
A321ceo, A321neo |
77% |
|
Dallas Fort Worth to Las Vegas |
323 |
8 to 12 |
A321ceo, 737-800, 787-8 |
57% |
|
Miami to Washington Reagan |
307 |
9 to 10 |
737-800, 737 MAX 8, E175 |
49% |
|
Dallas Fort Worth to Charlotte |
301 |
8 to 11 |
A321ceo, 777-200ER, 737-800 |
66% |
|
Dallas Fort Worth to Chicago O’Hare |
300 |
8 to 11 |
737-800, A321ceo, 787-9, MAX 8 |
47% |
|
* Each way (double for both ways) |
** Each way (double for both ways) |
*** By departures in January |
**** If between two hubs, both hubs. Per US DOT T-100 for Q2 2023; rounded |
American: Dallas-Austin
T-100 data shows that this market had 288,000 roundtrip passengers in Q2 2023, of which about 253,000 transited in Dallas. Obviously, the vast majority (87%) transferred to another domestic flight.
Most of the rest were point-to-point, while a surprising number of Dallas originating/ending passengers connected in Austin, presumably to get cheaper fares, on what was then a sizable network. Many routes will end soon.
If airport level origin and destinations are examined, Austin-Fayetteville (Northwest Arkansas) was the most popular market over Dallas. Then LaGuardia, Cleveland, Omaha, Pittsburgh, Denver, Tuscon, Washington Reagan, Los Angeles, and Madison (WI).
Winners & Losers: Which Of The Biggest US Airlines Have Grown Or Declined Since 2019?
Seven of the country’s 11 largest passenger carriers are bigger than they were.
What do you make of it all? Let us know in the comments section.
