American Airlines cancels last nonstop Palm Springs–Austin flight
It's now going to take more than one flight for Coachella Valley residents to reach "The Live Music Capital of the World."
American Airlines is nixing its seasonal direct flights between Palm Springs International Airport and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Austin, Texas.
An airline spokesperson said the decision was made as part of "the continuous evaluation of our network" that has resulted in American deciding to reduce service from Austin.
"American will continue to offer customers access to our comprehensive global network of more than 350 destinations with one-stop connections," said Andrea Koss, a corporate communications senior manager for the airline. "We’re proactively reaching out to impacted customers and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Palm Springs is one of five cities the airline says it will no longer fly to from Austin-Bergstrom, joining 21 other Austin routes that have already been eliminated in 2024. The latest five are heavy on major tourism destinations, with Orlando, Las Vegas, New Orleans and Reno, Nevada, joining Palm Springs in getting the ax.
An American spokesman told The Austin American-Statesman, which reported on the discontinued flights Monday, that the reductions were made in an attempt to free up capacity to allow American to increase seats to several hubs from Austin this winter. The airline foreshadowed plans in an earnings call held last fall, saying it would focus on more in-demand routes from Austin.
During a more recent earnings call, American announced its highest ever quarterly revenue for the second quarter of 2024 at $14.3 billion. However, the company is about $40 billion in debt, and its stock price has generally been stagnant following a major slide this spring.
American Airlines first added winter and spring flights between Austin and Palm Springs in 2022, in what the company said was a direct response to strong demand it saw in 2021. At the time, Alaska Airlines also offered a seasonal service between Austin and Palm Springs that has since been discontinued, meaning PSP will no longer be connected to Texas' capital city via any direct flights.
American increasing service between Palm Springs, Phoenix
PSP spokesperson Jake Ingrassia said the elimination of the route is part of strategic changes American Airlines is making that are also resulting in increased overall capacity on its remaining routes serving Palm Springs. He said that expansion includes increasing the number of round trip flights between Phoenix and Palm Springs to five per day, which will make connections easier given Phoenix's status as a major air travel hub. American previously operated three to four roundtrips per day between the cities, depending on the time of year.
"American has reiterated that these challenges are specific to Austin and airline officials remain pleased with PSP’s performance," Ingrassia said. "PSP looks forward to welcoming the expanded American Airlines service this season."
American currently offers year-around flights from Palm Springs to Dallas and Phoenix as well as seasonal flights to Chicago O'Hare airport during winter and spring months.
American Airlines is the second airline to cut a Palm Springs route in the last week: JetBlue announced on July 24 that it was ending service between JFK Airport in New York and PSP, the only route it offered to Palm Springs, as it shifts its operations to focus more tightly on the east coast.
Paul Albani-Burgio covers growth, development and business in the Coachella Valley. Follow him on Twitter at @albaniburgiop and email him at paul.albani-burgio@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: American Airlines cancels last Palm Springs–Austin flight
