American Airlines plans to cut 21 nonstop routes from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in 2024. Six of the canceled flights are international and 15 are domestic.
Among the canceled routes, 13 are currently served by other airlines, leaving eight destinations without direct service from Austin. American Airlines said it will proactively reach out to impacted customers with an updated travel schedule for 2024.
“Austin remains an important market for American as we continuously evaluate our network,” an American Airlines representative said in a statement. “Together with our partners, American will continue to offer customers service to 15 of the top 20 markets from (Austin-Bergstrom), while continuing to offer one-stop connections across our comprehensive global network to more than 350 destinations around the world.”
American Airlines said it will offer 53% more seats each day and 19 additional daily departures in 2024 compared to 2019. According to a statement from the airport, it is grateful for these offerings.
“This holiday season and into next year, AUS looks forward to connecting travelers to a robust selection of international and domestic markets alongside all of our airline partners,” the representative said in the statement. “We remain committed to meeting our community’s demand for air service.”
For out-of-state students at UT, these cut routes could mean switching to a different airline or finding alternate forms of transportation.
“I think (the cut routes) are really insane because air traffic in terms of getting flights is already overpriced and extremely competitive,” philosophy freshman Jasmine Iyer said. “During the holiday season, being in a city that’s also (home to) a big college such as UT, there is a lot of competition for getting these types of flights.”
Originally from Hillsborough, New Jersey, Iyer said being able to go home for the holidays is extremely important to her. Although she has found a community at the University, she said she has gotten homesick this semester and greatly misses her family and friends.
“It’s already hard enough going to school far away and paying out-of-state tuition, but on top of it, having fewer flights and options will up the prices and make everything more inconvenient and expensive,” Iyer said.
Radio-television-film freshman Sage Oravitz said that as a student from Miami Beach, Florida, her biggest worry is getting stuck in Austin with no way home. Although the cut flights should not affect her travel, she said she is anxious in case more flights are discontinued.
“The advantage of being at UT is it’s 90% Texas residents, so I feel like, for that reason, there’s so many friends who are willing to let me stay,” Orvaitz said. “Even so, I would feel bad if it were to come down to it (because) I had nowhere else to go.”
