American Airlines canceling 90,000 Flights August through December

[JasonOasis]

This was quietly announced 2 or 3 days ago right after American released their Q2 earnings.

American has announced they are cutting 90,000 flights from their schedule starting in August through December in a move to restore reliability to their schedule going forward.  That equates to around 18,000 flight per month or 600 flights per day.  However keep in mind American Airlines is by far the largest airline in the world and I believe they operate over 4900 flights daily (or at least that was what they scheduled).  According to multiple article the reduction in flights has already been loaded in the system Cirium (industry insiders and airlines use this system to track schedules and flights). 

https://dentonrc.com/news/state/american-airlines-cuts-more-summer-and-fall-flights-to-boost-reliability/article_0c55ae9c-3849-58a3-a80f-2e56893f6aa3.html

Part of this schedule reduction is also being driving by the fact the FAA limits commercial pilots to no more than 1,000 total flight hours per year. And even with all the cancellations at the airline I work for pilots have already rack up more overtime flight hours this year than they did in 2018 and 2019 combined. At the airline I work for we already have some pilots in the 600 flight hour range (pilots can fly up to 100 hours every month).  If the airline I work for already has pilots in the low 600 flight hour range I'm sure American which is much larger has to have pilots knocking on the door of 700 hours which isn't a good place to be at the end of July. Keep in mind during a typical year most senior pilots will have around 600 total flight hours and junior pilots will rack up between 700 and 800 total flight hours (junior pilots want to make more money therefore they pick up more trips/overtime than senior pilots who are already making top dollar and are looking for more of a work life balance).  

American Airlines is not alone both Delta and United have trimmed their schedules for the remainder of the year as well though not as much as American because they are not as big as American.  So while American paints this a bid to improve reliability for the remainder of the year the real reason we are seeing these airlines cut flights from August through the end of December is because if they don't trim their schedules to reduce the number of flight hours to better match the pilots they have and pilots continue to rake in the overtime the airline runs the risk of having pilots time out right in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas travel season.

[teddy]

I guess this in part explains why our flight to Houston/Hobby was changed without our knowing.  Thankfully we talked to a great AA rep who helped us find a good alternative.