Aircraft
Boeing 787 Delivery Halt Spoils American Airlines’ Summer Plans
As the FAA continues its analysis of Boeing’s 787 fixes to gaps between fuselage sections, American Airlines must delay international expansion.
An American Airlines Boeing 787-9 takes off from Los Angeles International Airport in May 2019. (Photo: Flickr: Creative Commons (BY) by Colin Brown Photography)
An American Airlines Boeing 787-9 takes off from Los Angeles International Airport in May 2019. (Photo: Flickr: Creative Commons (BY) by Colin Brown Photography)

American Airlines has pledged to minimize disruptions to its international schedule caused by Boeing’s inability to deliver at least thirteen 787s due to ongoing problems involving gaps between the model’s fuselage sections. Nevertheless, in a memo to employees on Thursday, AA chief revenue officer Vasu Raja confirmed that the airline has decided to slash service to Edinburgh, Scotland; Shannon, Ireland; and Hong Kong and cancel plans to reinstate summer service to Dubrovnik and Prague. It also will “significantly” cut frequencies to Asia-Pacific cities throughout its system such as Shanghai, Beijing, and Sydney while delaying launch to new markets such as Seattle to Bangalore.

“Without these widebodies, we simply won’t be able to fly as much internationally as we had planned next summer or as we did in summer 2019,” said Raja in the memo.