Even though the leaves are just starting to turn color, airline network planners are already excited about the coming summer.
That’s when hundreds of thousands of Americans are expected to take to the skies again for one of their big annual trips. And as more travelers look to ditch the hustle and bustle of big cities like London and Paris for more off-the-beaten-path destinations like Faro, Portugal, U.S. airlines are taking notice.
Rather than simply increasing frequencies on existing routes to major hubs across the Atlantic, some airlines, such as United Airlines, are launching nonstop flights to these far-flung destinations.
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The same story applies at home. American Airlines, for example, announced a slew of routes from its hub in New York to nearby – but often difficult to reach – summer destinations, such as Hyannis and Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
Regardless, October was a busy month for airline network planners. Here’s a summary of any changes you may have missed.
Last month’s recap: Exciting new airline routes from September 2023 and beyond
US airlines
American is betting that a trip to New England might be in the cards for you this coming summer.
The Fort Worth, Texas-based airline announced earlier this month a slew of new regional routes to popular summer destinations in the Northeast such as Hyannis and Martha’s Vineyard.
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In total, the airline added eight new routes and made Hyannis the newest route map pin. In addition, American will fly new cross-border service from Charlotte to Vancouver, British Columbia next summer, and will resume flying to Bermuda from Washington, DC.
American did not cancel any routes this month, but did add a number of new temporary flights for the Super Bowl in Las Vegas and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
In fact, American will fly its fanciest jet – the three-cabin Airbus A321T – to Las Vegas for the fanciest way to fly commercially to the big game.
Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines has a new longest route: New York to Anchorage, Alaska. At 3,386 miles, this new service, which will launch next summer aboard a brand new Boeing 737 MAX 8, will be the airline’s longest.
That said, it might not be the most comfortable ride: imagine being cramped in the back of a single-aisle domestic plane for eight hours straight. Even the first-class armchairs don’t lie flat.
In addition to the new flights to New York, Alaska is launching weekly flights on Saturdays between San Diego and Anchorage.
Breeze airways
Breeze, the latest brainchild of serial aviation entrepreneur David Neeleman, is back in expansion mode. This fast-growing startup launched flights in May 2021, and just this month Breeze announced one new destination and four new routes.
The airline will add flights to Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport (GPT) along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast in January. From there it flies to Las Vegas and Tampa.
In addition, this winter, Breeze will connect Islip, New York’s Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP), with Vero Beach, Florida, followed by Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina, and Akron, Ohio, starting in February.
However, it’s not all good news for Breeze. The airline will discontinue flights to Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the end of November.
Delta Airlines
If you’ve ever visited Tulum, Mexico, before, you may know that it’s almost a two-hour drive from Cancun, the region’s busiest airport.
Fortunately, Delta has good news for its flyers: The airline became the first U.S. airline to announce Tulum flights this month. Delta will begin daily nonstop flights from its megahub in Atlanta to Tulum International Airport (TQO) on March 28, 2024 – opening in a few weeks.
In addition to the new Tulum service, Delta has announced it will return to Halifax, Nova Scotia next summer. Interestingly, this resumption of the route will come just a few days after American launched service on the exact same route.
Finally, Delta is adjusting some of its regional flights in the Northeast by shifting the gateway on some routes back to Detroit. This follows the Federal Aviation Administration’s extension of the slot exemption at New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA).
Border airlines
While you won’t find a splashy press release announcing these changes, Frontier Airlines quietly cut three routes in October.
This includes flights from Orlando to San Diego and San Francisco, as well as flights from Tampa to Phoenix.
JetBlue
JetBlue’s transatlantic network is growing with the addition of two new gateways next summer: Dublin and Edinburgh, Scotland.
In the summer, flights to both cities will be seasonal, and JetBlue will fly the less expensive Airbus A321neo with the new Mint to both destinations.
JetBlue will also expand its presence in Paris with the addition of a new daily flight from Boston year-round beginning April 3, 2024. The airline will also add a second daily flight from JFK to Paris on June 20, 2024.
While JetBlue may be growing across the Atlantic, it is making some significant cuts to its domestic network, mainly focused on the Northeast. This includes drop service to Burlington, Vermont, and cutting flights on 13 other routes.
JSX
JSX, an upscale airline that technically operates as a public charter with 30-seat planes, is adding three new routes this winter.
This includes the first-ever service to Boca Raton, Florida, from Morristown, New Jersey and Westchester, New York. Additionally, JSX will add flights from Morristown to Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport (OPF) just before the holidays.
It will be interesting to see how JSX fares on these routes. They’re popular corridors for deep-pocketed snowbirds looking for warmer pastures in the winter, so assuming JSX can get past this latest lawsuit, perhaps the route will return in the future.
Southwest Airlines
While Southwest’s recent earnings report may have been a miss, the airline is getting positive press for quite a significant network expansion. This includes as many as 30 new routes, such as flights from Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) in California with six new destinations.
Meanwhile, on the other coast, Southwest is shifting its southeast international hub from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando.
In addition to the new routes, the airline will also bring back more than 60 seasonal routes, which will be phased in across the country.
Discover all the details below.
Spirit Airlines
Spirit became the second U.S. airline to announce flights to Tulum’s new airport this month. The airline will launch two routes there from Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.
Sun country
You may have never seen a Sun Country plane at your local airport, but that could change in the coming months.
Sun Country, based in Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) is taking on local behemoth Delta with the addition of 10 new routes.
Most of the announced routes will compete against Delta. This includes new flights to Montreal and Toronto, as well as domestic cities such as Boise and Albuquerque, New Mexico.
United Airlines
United Airlines is usually the one with the splashy press release and cocktail party to celebrate the announcement of the summer transatlantic route. This year, however, the carrier is only introducing one new destination for next summer: Faro, Portugal.
In addition to the new route map pin, United is adding a few new flights on existing or recently suspended routes, such as Newark to Reykjavik and Brussels.
United also trimmed part of its route portfolio this month, including eliminating service between Washington, D.C. and Berlin, as well as between Newark and Honolulu.
Aeromexico
The Mexican flag carrier unveiled a major U.S. expansion earlier this month with as many as 17 new cross-border routes.
The airline did not announce specific launch dates, but did say these will be “phasically introduced” from January.
The new flights will be operated in partnership with joint venture partner Delta, and 14 of the new routes will serve Delta hubs.
Aeromexico’s move comes after the US government recently upgraded Mexico’s air safety rating to Category 1. The US had downgraded Mexico’s air safety rating to Category 2 in 2021, which meant Mexican airlines were not allowed to add new services to US airports.
Air Canada
Air Canada will launch flights from Toronto to Charleston, South Carolina, starting in March. This regional service will be operated by an Air Canada Express Embraer 175 jet.
Porter Airlines
Canadian airline Porter Airlines is expanding in the US with three new destinations: Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Porter flies from Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ) to all three cities.
Virgin Atlantic Ocean
Last year, Virgin Atlantic launched flights from London to Austin, a route that competed with British Airways.
Perhaps the competition was too much, however, as Virgin quietly announced this month that it would be ending the Austin route effective January.