American Airlines is once again going long from Pittsburgh.
The Fort Worth-based carrier will add a new service from Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) beginning on April 4, as first seen in Cirium schedules and later confirmed by a carrier spokesperson.
The airline will deploy a Boeing 737-800 on the 2,136-mile route that’ll clock in at around five hours in each direction.
Flights will depart Los Angeles at 9 a.m. and land in Pittsburgh at 4:37 p.m., all times local. The westbound service will depart at 5:57 p.m. and land back in Los Angeles at 10:05 p.m.
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American will go up against startup carrier Breeze Airways on this new route, so it’ll be interesting to see how the two airlines compete.
Spirit Airlines used to fly the route as recently as last month, but it has since pulled out as part of a broader network pulldown to focus on the most profitable flying.
Spirit first started flying this route in July 2017. Meanwhile, American last operated this route in February 2017, so it’s interesting to see how American is returning to fill the void left by Spirit, which in turn filled American’s void nearly a decade ago.
Department of Transportation data analyzed by Cirium shows that, on average, 283 passengers flew each day between the two cities in 2023, meaning that there is likely room for two airlines in the nonstop market.
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Note that US Airways, which merged with American in 2013, used to operate a major hub in Pittsburgh. US Airways closed the hub in 2004, but the service to Los Angeles continued well into Pittsburgh’s post-hub era.
Now, the airport is busy reinventing itself, with an all-new terminal complex expected to open in the third quarter of next year.
In addition to Pittsburgh, American Airlines is also spreading its wings at its O’Hare International Airport (ORD) hub in Chicago. From there, it’ll launch service to Spokane, Washington, in June.
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American’s regional affiliate Envoy Air will deploy an Embraer E175 on the route, which will be operated daily in both directions. American last flew from Chicago to Spokane in the summer of 2021, but that route was suspended after just one season.
United Airlines, the other major carrier operating a hub in Chicago, already flies from ORD to Spokane, so the additional competition could lead to lower fares for passengers departing from Chicago.
“American is pleased to announce two new routes starting in 2025. In April, we will offer new nonstop service between Los Angeles (LAX) and Pittsburgh (PIT) and in June we will begin nonstop service between Chicago (ORD) and Spokane (GEG). American continues to build an industry-leading domestic network connecting more passengers to our comprehensive global network. Just in time for summer, these new routes join more than 20 other new routes launching next year, giving travelers more ways to explore familiar favorites or new neighborhoods in 2025,” an American spokesperson said in a statement.
While not necessarily a new route, American made one other interesting network addition over the weekend. That’s a third daily flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Hartford.
Though there’s no telling exactly why American is making the addition, just last week Avelo Airlines announced new service from nearby New Haven, Connecticut, to Dallas-Fort Worth.
American is no stranger to a turf war, so it’s possible that this frequency increase is designed to compete with Avelo.
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