American Airlines announced the cancellation of several flights connecting the United States to Brazil. The changes will take effect starting August 21. Some flights will be completely eliminated, while others will see a reduction in weekly frequency.
According to American Airlines, passengers who have already purchased tickets for the canceled flights can request to change to travel on other flights operated by the airline, which may be arranged in conjunction with partner companies.
The announcement comes just days after the company celebrated the approval by the National Congress of the open skies agreement between Brazil and the United States.
The agreement removes the limitation on flights between the two countries and was advocated as a way to increase flight availability, which would reduce ticket prices. However, the decision by the American airline goes in the opposite direction with a reduction in service in several cities.
The changes by American Airlines for Brazil are:
• Miami – São Paulo: Currently, there are three daily flights, two at night and one during the day; starting August 21, 2018, the daytime flight will no longer exist.
• Miami – Belo Horizonte: Total cancellation of the route starting August 21, 2018.
• New York – Rio de Janeiro: Currently, there are daily flights; starting August 21, the frequency will be reduced to five flights per week. There will be daily seasonal flights during the summer, operating until March 16, 2019. After that, this flight will only operate seasonally starting December 2019.
• Los Angeles – São Paulo: Reduction from five to four times a week starting December 19, 2018.
• Dallas – Rio de Janeiro: Total cancellation of the flight starting December 19, 2018.
Slow economic recovery
According to American Airlines, the cancellation is due to the slow recovery of the Brazilian economy.
“We are simply managing our capacity in Brazil in response to market conditions that have not recovered as quickly as we expected. American Airlines evaluates its network based on supply and demand on each route, ensuring our long-term success in the face of global competition,” the company stated in a release.