Due to a pilot shortage, American Airlines is terminating service to two cities in the state of New York and one in the state of Ohio.
Starting on September 7, the airline will discontinue service to Toledo, Ohio; Islip, New York; and Ithaca, New York.
According to a spokeswoman for the airline, “American Airlines has made the tough choice to terminate operations in response to the regional pilot shortage afflicting the airline industry.”
Robert Isom, the CEO of American, stated earlier this month that the company has grounded around 100 regional jets due to a lack of labour.
The spokesperson stated that due to a regional pilot shortage, American had scaled back its regional flights in recent months. She further stated that it might take “some time” before staffing levels return to normal.
The only other airline that operates flights to and from Toledo is Allegiant Air, which operates twice weekly flights on routes to three Florida airports as well as Phoenix, Arizona.
Additionally, American is ceasing its daily service from Ithaca Tompkins International Airport to its hub in Philadelphia. The airport will be left with a drastically reduced schedule if this route is discontinued, only providing flights to Detroit with Delta and Newark with United.
The third route that American is cutting is its regular service from Philadelphia to Long Island’s McArthur Airport in Islip. Southwest, Frontier Airlines, and Breeze Airways all offer service to the airport.
Regional airlines Piedmont Airlines and Envoy Air, both of which are fully owned by American, operate American Eagle’s flights to and from Toledo. Piedmont Airlines, doing business as American Eagle, runs the flights to and from Islip and Ithaca.
The American representative stated, “We’re working closely with them during this period and are really appreciative for the attention and support our team members offered to our customers in Islip, Ithaca, and Toledo.
American would get in touch with travellers who had reservations for flights to or from those airports after September 7 to arrange alternate travel arrangements, they added.
Current staffing shortages at airports and airlines result in lengthy security and check-in lineups, cancelled flights, and irate passengers.
As demand for both leisure and business travel picks up, more people are taking to the skies. However, airlines have had difficulty balancing their staffing levels to meet shifting demand amid waves of lockdowns, alternately resorting to furloughs, layoffs, and hiring binges.
A little under pre-pandemic levels, the US Transportation Security Administration inspected 2.38 million passengers on Sunday and a comparable number every day throughout June.
Due to increased demand and personnel issues, airlines such as Delta, JetBlue, Alaska, Lufthansa, and British Airways have reduced their summer itineraries.
Over the Juneteenth and Father’s Day weekend, tens of thousands of US flights — both domestic and foreign — experienced delays or cancellations.
With the Air Line Pilots Association, Piedmont Airlines and Envoy Air agreed to nearly treble pilot compensation earlier this month.
The hiring of 2,000 pilots by American was announced by Isom on June 3.
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