American Airlines launches a new seasonal route from Charlotte to Vail, Colorado, just in time for the 2025–26 ski season.
American Airlines announced an addition to its winter lineup with a new seasonal route between Charlotte (CLT) and Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE), which is the gateway to the famous Vail Mountain in Colorado.
The route is slated to run between December 18, 2025, and January 5, 2026. It will be flown daily utilizing American’s Airbus A319.
Eagle County Regional is roughly 30 minutes from Vail, one of the country’s most iconic ski destinations.
“This new route enhances access to mountain communities and makes it even easier for guests to experience everything our region has to offer during the holiday season,” said Chris Romer, President of the Vail Valley Partnership.
This route addition signals another departure city available to American customers to ski country. The airline already flies to Eagle County from Dallas/Fort Worth. It also has seasonal service from Chicago O’Hare, Miami, and New York–JFK.
Now with Charlotte in the mix, American has strengthened its position in the competition at Eagle County against Delta and United, both of which fly regional routes from similar cities on the East Coast.
When it came to American’s winter offerings to Vail, Charlotte was a major East Coast hub without service to the popular ski destination. New York and Chicago routinely sent passenger traffic westward. Charlotte was a notable exclusion from this trend as of late. U.S. Airways once offered this route 17 years ago. But wasn’t brought along with the merger with American.
But there has to be demand for this route from Charlotte. In the last few years, warm winters on the East Coast have made ski conditions in places like Vermont, Pennsylvania, or Upstate New York very unreliable.East Coast winter sports enthusiasts have been in search of fresh white powder.
Places like Bozeman, Jackson Hole, and the mountains of Colorado have definitely grown in interest from East Coast winter fans. American’s move to connect Charlotte to Vail makes a lot of sense.
Probably the most interesting part of the route announcement is American’s aircraft of choice. The Airbus A319, which was acquired by American during the U.S. Airways merger is among the older planes in American’s mainline fleet.
Air carriers like Spirit are phasing out their A319s from service in favor of newer, more fuel-efficient A320NEOs and A321NEOs.
American is still finding a niche for its A319s.
This recent application is perfect for the A319 because it strikes a balance. The A319 is larger than a regional jet but smaller than most medium-sized jets in American’s fleet, like the Boeing 737. These facts alone make it ideal for moderate seasonal demand, longer-distance travel, and high-altitude airport operations.
If American opted for the Embraer 175 for this route, it might not have enough capacity to meet daily demand. The aircraft may also not have the range to reach Vail if fully loaded or operate at a higher airport altitude. On the other hand, deploying a Boeing 737 Max 8 might be overkill.
American’s A319 has the size for great comfort for a mid-length flight and easily accommodates Eagle County Airport’s infrastructure and American’s fleet operational needs.
