American Turning it Up a Bit in the ATL

On the heels of American’s re-entry into the ATL-LGA market, comes news that the airline will soon launch 3X daily nonstop service to Los Angeles using 737-800 aircraft. Flights begin on March 5, 2015, and will open for booking this Sunday, October 12, 2014. American touts these flights as an expansion of its LAX hub. From American’s press release:

“American is expanding our Los Angeles hub with Atlanta service to give customers more travel options between these two key markets and Atlanta customers convenient access to Southern California,” said Chuck Schubert, vice president – Network and Schedule Planning. “With nearly 200 daily departures out of Los Angeles and nearly 50 out of Atlanta, we’re giving customers more opportunities to explore the world for business or pleasure on our growing global network.” Image courtesy of American Airlines.

MJ’s Take

It’s good to see American paying attention to Atlanta again. Atlanta is a large travel market, obviously dominated by Delta and to a lesser extent, Southwest. This has always been an important market to American. While they are building up their LAX operation, the fact that they’ve maintained an Admirals Club here over the years speaks to having a sizable amount of local Atlanta traffic.

Further, the new American is better able to compete, and they are not shying away from taking on other airlines when they see an opportunity. While it’s not a given that these flights will be successful against more flights from both Delta and Southwest, it will be fun to watch. One wonders if Delta will make some sort of competitive response?

-MJ, October 10, 2014