American Airlines launches new summer flights to Cape Cod from Philly and Chicago, expanding its Northeast leisure route network.
Cape Cod has been in the news lately thanks to a surge of air travel opportunities. Just a few weeks ago, we highlighted Cape Air’s Northeast expansion, which included new routes to Cape Cod. This week, a major carrier is getting in on the action.
This week as reported by Boston.com, American Airlines launched flights to Hyannis, Massachusetts via Cape Cod Gateway Airport. These flights are daily flights from Philadelphia International Airport and once weekly service from Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
These new routes build on American’s existing foundation in Hyannis. Last year, the airline launched seasonal flights to Cape Cod from New York – LaGuardia and Washington National Airport.
“Cape Cod and Southern New England residents and visitors alike now have more options to conveniently access American’s global network,” said Katie Servis, airport manager at Cape Cod Gateway Airport. “We are connecting Cape Cod to the world—without the hassle and expense of traveling to Boston or Providence.”
American is taking a page out of its own playbook. The same one used for its service to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. American’s offerings to those islands already run from the same departure airports now being used for Hyannis: PHL, ORD, LGA, and DCA.
This comes at a time when more Americans are staying close to home due to the economy and geopolitical uncertainty. For airlines, accessible luxury getaways like Cape Cod are money makers. American Airlines wants in.
There also may be some competition going on here. With the collapse of the JetBlue-American Northeast Alliance, American might be going head to head with JetBlue in an attempt to capture Northeast leisure travelers.
It’s no secret that JetBlue has doubled down on Caribbean routes from JFK. They went as far as boosting connections from Boston to supplement the Caribbean demand. But at the same time, they have been scaling back underperforming flights including those to Northeast regional vacation destinations. American seems to be jumping in while they are getting out.
American has been a long time option for these Northeast destinations. They likely see strong margins and consistent customer demand. But they do have an advantage in their favor.
They use their fleet of regional aircraft like the Embraer 175, which are more efficient for the quick flights to places like Cape Cod. JetBlue has long used the aging Embraer 190, which are being phased out for the Airbus A220.
The A220 is a larger aircraft, holding more passengers than the Embraer 175. That makes it that much more difficult to sustain profitability on the route for JetBlue than American.
With JetBlue currently sporting a half foot in, half foot out approach in concern to these Northeast leisure destinations, it goes without saying that American is exploiting this opening with new routes to Cape Cod being launched.
