Two of American’s highly anticipated routes – Seattle-Bengaluru and Dallas-Tel Aviv – have once again been postponed. They are now scheduled to launch in January 2022.
Seattle-Bengaluru
In February 2020, American Airlines announced that it would be forming an international hub in Seattle. So far, the full service carrier has announced flights to Bengaluru, London and Shanghai from the city, with all of them scheduled to launch in 2021.
The decision came as American started cooperating more closely with Alaska Airlines, as the latter also joined the oneworld alliance in March 2021.
The Seattle-Bengaluru route was initially supposed to launch in October 2020. Well, at the time, it did not work out due to border restrictions and was postponed until October 2021. Then, again it was delayed to November 2021, and now it has been postponed again until January 2022.
The Bengaluru flights was supposed to mark the return of American Airlines to India. But as this has now been delayed, American’s New York-New Delhi route, which has been recently upgraded to a Boeing B777-300ER route, will mark the return of American to India.
According to the latest schedule updates, American will now launch flights between Seattle Tacoma International Airport and Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport on 4th January 2022. The flights will operate with the following schedule:
- Seattle-Bengaluru
- Departure time: 17:55
- Arrival time: 12:05 (+2 days)
- Flight time: 16 hours and 40 minutes
- Flight number: AA180
- Frequency: Daily
- Bengaluru-Seattle
- Departure time: 03:00
- Arrival time: 06:15
- Flight time: 16 hours and 45 minutes
- Flight number: AA181
- Frequency: Daily
American will use a Boeing B787-9 to operate this route, which features 30 Business Class seats, 21 Premium Economy Class seats and 234 Economy Class seats.
At the time of announcement of this route, American had an advantage as no other airline flew nonstop between United States and Bengaluru. Since then, quite a bit has changed. United Airlines has announced that it will operate daily B787-9s flights between San Francisco and Bengaluru. The United flight was initially supposed to launch in May 2021, but has now been postponed to December 2021. Indian national carrier Air India launched 2-weekly flights between San Francisco and Bengaluru.
According to me, American’s chances of success on this route are very thin. Prior to the pandemic, here’s what demand looked like between Bengaluru and the US:
- San Francisco had 17.7% of the traffic (the most of any city in the US), with over 200 travellers per day
- Seattle had 4.3% of the traffic, with over 50 travellers per day
I believe that American is betting a lot on connecting traffic on this route, and presumably American expected it would get much of the San Francisco demand as well. But then United announced nonstop flights between San Francisco and Bengaluru.
While United’s route seems like it has a high chance of being successful, American will have a tough time to make the route a success, according to me. Only time will tell how the route performs.
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Dallas-Tel Aviv
The other highly anticipated route by American Airlines is Dallas-Tel Aviv. Just like the Seattle-Bengaluru route, this route too has been delayed. The Dallas-based carrier first announced nonstop flights between Dallas and Tel Aviv in Israel in August 2019. This was supposed to mark American’s return to Israel.
The airline was supposed to launch Dallas to Tel Aviv flights in September 2020, but unsurprisingly, the COVID-19 pandemic had other plans. The route was then delayed by over a year to October 2021, and now, it has been delayed even further to January 2022.
American will now operate flights between Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport starting 6th January 2022. The flights will operate with the following schedule:
- Dallas-Tel Aviv
- Departure time: 21:05
- Arrival time: 18:00 (the next day)
- Flight time: 12 hours and 55 minutes
- Flight number: AA18
- Frequency: Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays
- Tel Aviv-Dallas
- Departure time: 22:10
- Arrival time: 05:30 (the next day)
- Flight time: 15 hours and 20 minutes
- Flight number: AA19
- Frequency: Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays
American will deploy a B787-9 on this route, which features 30 Business Class seats, 21 Premium Economy Class seats and 234 Economy Class seats.
While Dallas-Tel Aviv was the first route to Israel to be announced, it is the last one to actually launch. Since the announcement, American has already launched two routes to Israel. In May 2021, the carrier launched flights between New York and Tel Aviv, and in June 2021, it launched flights between Miami and Tel Aviv.
It’s not surprising to see the New York and Miami to Tel Aviv routes launch before Dallas route. Of the three routes, the Dallas to Tel Aviv route is the most reliant on connecting traffic, so it’s not surprising to see American wait longest for launching that route.
Also, Israel continues to have strict entry requirements. Presently, the country is not allowing tourists from the United States to enter the country.
Meanwhile, American Airlines recently increased frequency of flights to New Delhi before launch later this year. The airline has also partnered with Vertical Aerospace for EVTOL aircrafts. Also recently, the Dallas-based carrier announced 14 new routes out of Austin. The carrier is expanding in the Caribbean by launching flights to Dominica and Anguilla from Miami and has partnered with TikTok to provide free inflight access. Also, American recently upgraded New Delhi flights.
Featured image by Airways Magazine
What do you think of American postponing the launch of Seattle-Bengaluru and Dallas-Tel Aviv routes? Let me know in the comments section below.
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