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 discontinued, while others will see a reduction in weekly frequency.
According to American Airlines, passengers who have already purchased tickets for flights that will be canceled can request rebooking for other flights operated by the airline, which can be done in conjunction with partner companies.
The announcement comes just days after the airline celebrated the approval by the National Congress of the open skies agreement between Brazil and the United States.
The agreement ends the limitation of 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 the reduction of services in several cities. The changes by American Airlines to Brazil are:
• Miami – São Paulo: Currently, there are three daily flights, two of which are at night and one during the day; starting August 21, 2018, the daytime flight will cease to exist.
• Miami – Belo Horizonte: Total cancellation of the route starting August 21, 2018.
• New York – Rio de Janeiro: Today, 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 operate only 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 route 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 adjusting 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 said in a statement.