Summary
- American Airlines had the fewest cancelations and the best completion factor during the winter holiday travel season compared to its competitors.
- Despite severe weather and air traffic control delays, American Airlines operated more on-time flights this holiday season compared to last year.
- The airline plans to expand its presence at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and add more routes, both domestic and international, in 2024.
American Airlines revealed that over the winter holiday travel season, it delivered the fewest cancelations out of any major carrier. In a statement released on January 3, the airline maintained the best completion factor compared to its major competitors through January 1. The winter holiday travel season is being considered from December 20 through January 8.
Industry-leading performance during the holiday travel season
Per American Airlines, in total, the airline only canceled 16 flights from December 20 through January 1; it did not cancel a flight for the first six days of the winter travel season. American Airlines was able to achieve the fewest cancelations of any major carrier while operating more on-time flights when compared to last year’s holiday period.
Photo: American Airlines
The carrier completed this despite several instances of severe weather across the United States. The US also experienced non-scheduled, non-air carrier operations that caused air traffic control delays.
The Chief Operating Officer of American Airlines, David Seymour, spoke about the excellent operational performance. Seymour stated,
“When customers purchase tickets on American, they place their trust in us to deliver a safe and reliable operation, and I’m proud to say that thanks to the hard work of our team members, we delivered on that commitment — despite holiday headwinds, including some challenging weather and increased air traffic control congestion. We appreciate our federal partners — the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) — for their critical roles in making this holiday travel period a success.”
The airline’s performance this holiday season improved in both on-time departure and arrival performance. Compared to last year’s holiday season, American Airlines improved these measures by around 15%.
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
These improvements were achieved while carrying nearly 7.8 million passengers since December 20. These passengers traveled on more than 71,000 flights as of January 1. American Airlines also had the most flights scheduled on Christmas Day, with a total of 4,690 services. The airline traveled to 323 airports across the world on this day.
Peak operation ahead of a busy 2024
The improvements in operational performance for American Airlines are coming at the right time. It recently revealed it had plans to boost its presence at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) even further. American Airlines plans to boost schedules on 30 routes, both domestic and international, at the airport this coming year.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
During next summer, American Airlines will add a record number of seats departing from DFW. The airline will add frequency to 18 different domestic destinations, including Abilene, Texas (ABI), Boise, Idaho (BOI), Knoxville, Tennessee (TYS), and Roswell, New Mexico (ROW), among others. American Airlines plans to begin services to Redmond, Oregon (RDM), and Albany, New York (ALB) while resuming service to St. George, Utah (SGU).
Regarding international routes, American Airlines will begin new services to Barcelona, Spain (BCN) in June and services to Tulum, Mexico (TQO) beginning in March. The airline also plans to increase its number of flights to Guatemala City, Guatemala (GUA), Los Cabos, Mexico (SJD), Queretaro, Mexico (QRO), and San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO). This will increase the number of international services from DFW to 55 destinations.
