American Airlines (AAL) will be doing a little less international travel next year, apparently because it won’t have the planes it needs to do so. The airline said it will be putting off a number of new routes thanks to Boeing (BA) fulfilling jetliner orders more slowly than expected, travel industry news site The Points Guy first reported.
“As a result of ongoing Boeing 787 delivery delays, American is adjusting service on certain routes in spring 2025 to ensure we are able to re-accommodate customers on affected flights,” American said in a statement provided to Quartz. “We’ll be proactively reaching out to our impacted customers to offer alternate travel arrangements and remain committed to mitigating the impact of these Boeing delays while continuing to offer a comprehensive global network.”
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
American said that it will not be cancelling any routes because of the delays, but it will be starting some routes later than expected:
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Flights from Chicago O’Hare International Airport to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, on hold since September, will be restarting in May instead of April.
Flights from Miami International Airport to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport will be temporarily suspended starting in May.
Beginning in April, there will be two daily flights from Miami International Airport to Ministro Pistarini International Airport near Buenos Aires, Argentina, instead of three.
American Airlines is one of the largest Boeing customers waiting on 787 deliveries. Of the 785 unfilled orders for the plane listed on the planemaker’s website, American is waiting on 25 of them. Only United Airlines (UAL), Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Airlines, and Lufthasa are identified as awaiting more planes.
Because the planes are wider than Boeing’s popular 737 Max planes, they’re desirable for airlines who do a lot of long-haul international service. Though U.S. carriers are hesitant to add more capacity after empty seats industry-wide reduced fares (and passenger revenues), American was hoping that what little new supply it was introducing would be international.
“As we bring back capacity, there’s probably 1% of consolidated capacity or more that’s coming out of regional that will largely be on the domestic side,” CFO Devon May said on an October earnings call. “The rest of the growth, I think, will be split relatively evenly, maybe a little more international than domestic.”
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American Airlines is cutting international flights next year – and blaming Boeing
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