The official start of summer is still a few weeks away, and the airline network planners haven’t been taking any vacations just yet.
This month, major U.S. airlines continued to file new routes and make stealth cuts to their schedules, many of which were first seen in Cirium Diio timetables.
One of the most notable stories was about how the biggest carriers have been jockeying for newly issued slots, or takeoff and landing permissions, for long-distance flights at the convenient Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) just outside Washington, D.C.
Airlines have just submitted their first pitches for these flights; we’ll hear more about the outcome in the coming weeks and months.
In addition to the frenzy at DCA, many other airports received new routes this month — you’ll catch all the details in our comprehensive monthly roundup below.
Map watching: The award for ‘sexiest new route’ of the year goes to …
American Airlines
American Airlines entered May as the largest U.S. airline in the Caribbean and Latin America. It extended its stronghold in this region by adding eight new winter routes, most from either New York or Philadelphia.
Highlights of this expansion include new service to La Romana in the Dominican Republic. This outstation hasn’t seen American service since 2017.
Separately, American is boosting its Landline bus partnership by adding two new connections to its Philadelphia hub. These new bus routes from Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport (AVP) in Pennsylvania and Wilmington Airport (ILG) in Delaware will give flyers more one-stop itinerary options — even if one leg of the journey is operated by a bus service.
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Avelo Airlines
Avelo didn’t make too many splashy announcements this month, but it did add service from its New Haven, Connecticut, base to Dulles International Airport (IAD) near D.C. This short regional flight should give travelers a new, faster way to get from New Haven to the nation’s capital.
Meanwhile, the airline scrapped one route — Santa Rosa, California, to Pasco, Washington — just two weeks after it started. Avelo blamed the cut on low demand.
Delta Air Lines
This month, Delta Air Lines made some big changes to routes operated by its smallest and largest planes.
In terms of smallest planes, Delta debuted the first routes for its spacious CRJ-550 regional jet, which will feature a walk-up onboard bar in first class and baggage storage closets for all passengers. United Airlines was the first carrier to debut this unique configuration, and starting in July, Delta will do the same from its Salt Lake City hub to Butte, Montana; Cedar City, Utah; Elko, Nevada; and West Yellowstone, Montana.
Elsewhere, Delta added its 10th route to Amsterdam — this one is from Tampa. The airline also unveiled 50 new nonstop flights for the college football season, and it even added more routes to its Latin America schedule.
Finally, the airline made its Los Angeles-to-Auckland service seasonal, and it scrapped plans to resume flights from LA to Shanghai.
Frontier Airlines
Frontier Airlines is showering San Jose, California, with some love once again.
The airline pulled out of the city in 2019, but five years later, it’s coming back with five new routes. This includes service to Denver, Las Vegas, LA, Phoenix and San Diego.
JetBlue
JetBlue made some major changes in May as it seeks to return to profitability. These include cutting transatlantic service during the winter season and reducing flights to New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA).
The airline will grow in more lucractive markets, including Boston and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Finally, JetBlue will also deploy its Mint business-class product on six new routes, including New York-San Juan; New York-Vancouver, British Columbia; Fort Lauderdale-Las Vegas; Fort Lauderdale-Phoenix; Boston-Phoenix; and New York-Phoenix.
JSX
JSX, the luxe premium air carrier flying 30-set jets, announced that new nonstop flights between Dallas Love Field (DAL) and Scottsdale Airport (SCF) in Arizona will begin Oct. 3.
These new flights will operate on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. The service will be timed to allow flyers to connect from Dallas to Orange County (and vice versa) with convenient one-stop, same-plane service via Scottsdale.
Additionally, JSX will relaunch summer-seasonal service to Taos, New Mexico, on June 28. The carrier will operate three weekly flights to Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (BJC) — situated roughly halfway between Boulder, Colorado, and Denver — and two weekly flights to DAL. These seasonal flights run through Sept. 29.
Spirit Airlines
Spirit Airlines continues to tweak its network with more flights to popular hub cities. This month’s latest expansion includes a rare new shuttle route from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH).
This 224-mile route is already blanketed with service, but Spirit is likely hoping it will help unlock new connecting itineraries for its customers.
Finally, the airline is temporarily scrapping all international flights from Houston due to weak demand.
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines made another major network change this month. This time, it added seven new routes, three of which are from Las Vegas. Six of the seven new routes are uncontested, so Southwest is likely capitalizing on the monopoly opportunity when launching these new routes.
It’s not all great news, though, since the carrier is phasing out four routes. Two are from Denver, where the competition with United has been getting heated.
Sun Country Airlines
Sun Country is adding two new routes from Milwaukee this winter. These include new ways to reach Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ) in the Dominican Republic and Sangster International Airport (MBJ) in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
United Airlines
United’s network planners had perhaps the busiest month of all the U.S. airlines.
The airline added a new cross-country flight from IAD to Palm Springs International Airport (PSP). It also debuted new service from IAD to Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO) in Greensboro, North Carolina, and from IAD to Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP) in South Carolina.
United also tweaked its long-haul network by cutting two high-profile routes: LA to Auckland, New Zealand, and LA to Brisbane, Australia.
The airline also upgraded the Newark-to-Tenerife, Spain, flight to year-round service.
All of this news comes as the carrier received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to once again add new routes. With this approval, I wouldn’t be shocked to see the carrier make some more additions to its network in the coming weeks.
Aer Lingus
The Irish flag carrier felt lucky in May when it added a new service connecting Dublin and Las Vegas, which will debut this fall.
The new route will be a seasonal offering, with Aer Lingus flying three times weekly to the Nevada desert.
Flair Airlines
Canadian low-cost carrier Flair Airlines is making a big change in Florida. It’s shifting service from Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB) to Orlando International Airport (MCO).
Flair will connect Orlando with Toronto; Saint John, New Brunswick; London, Ontario; and Waterloo, Ontario. Without Flair, SFB will no longer have any international flights.
Porter Airlines
Another Canadian low-cost carrier, Porter Airlines, announced that it will launch service from Toronto to Phoenix on Oct. 3.
The airline will operate the flight on a once-daily basis.
Tui Airways
British carrier Tui Airways will begin flying from Dublin to Melbourne, Florida, on June 24. This new flight will be operated once weekly on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
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