American Airlines cancels hundreds of flights starting in August | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

American Airlines has been underperforming both United Airlines and Delta Air Lines for a number of reasons.

The airline made a tactical error on its corporate travel strategy, pushing customers toward booking on its site to try to reduce commissions and thus removing fares from corporate booking channels. This ended up sending customers to rival airlines.

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American Airlines also failed to keep up in terms of providing a premium travel experience, as both United and Delta invested more in premium cabins, lounge upgrades, and overall higher-end service.

On top of all that, its route network is heavily focused on regions in the Sun Belt, and its route networks are less efficient, which left the airline less equipped to weather challenging times during the period of high inflation and economic uncertainty in the post-Covid era.

Amid its struggles, American will be making some changes beginning in August, cutting hundreds of daily flights per month, according to data from aviation analytics company Cirium.

American Airlines is canceling over 70 weekly departures in August.

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These are the flights American Airlines will be cutting in August

When American updated its schedule in May, the airline made multiple key changes to its planned schedule from Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Specifically, the airline cut 70 weekly departures from its schedule beginning in August.

Affected flights included:

Chicago to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). There will now be 85 flights on this route, down from the planned 98 weekly departures.
Chicago to Wilmington International Airport (ILM). Seven weekly flights to this destination were removed.
Chicago to El Paso International Airport (ELP). Another seven weekly flights got the ax here.
Chicago to New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA). A total of six weekly flights to this destination were dropped.
Chicago to Kansas City International Airport (MCI). Five weekly flights to this destination were removed.
Chicago to Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT). Three weekly flights were cut.

Although these particular flights are on the chopping block, American is expected to ultimately fly 16.5% more weekly flights out of Chicago-O’Hare in August, compared with the number of flights departing the airport in 2024.

American Airlines is involved in a gate dispute in Chicago

These flight cuts come at a time when American Airlines is involved in a dispute over gate space at the Chicago Airport. American is slated to lose four gates at Chicago O’Hare, which the airline claims would result in a significant decrease in its arrivals and departures.

American Airlines said that the loss of these guides is in violation of a deal that the carrier made with the city of Chicago in 201,8 and the airline sued the city back in May of 2025 for breaching the contract.

In July of this year, American Airlines also asked a federal judge for an injunction that would stop the transfer of the gates, effective this fall.

Gate allocation at the airport is based on each airline’s historical activity, and American Airlines is claiming that when the city calculated how it would allocate gates, it did not account for increased business that was generated from the opening of new gates in the spring.

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“The gate redetermination has now entered a critical phase and, absent this court’s intervention, will occur on Oct. 1,” attorneys for American Airlines said. “At that point, it will likely become impossible to undo the damage as this litigation unfolds over time.”

It remains to be seen how the litigation will play out and whether American Airlines will lose its gates. Regardless, the plans are already in place to cancel 70 weekly departures, and travelers headed to the affected destinations will need to be aware that they may have fewer options for how to get there.