Don’t Book with American, Analysts Warn

American Airlines has canceled hundreds of fall flights—a total of 1 to 2 percent of total operations in September and October. To make matters worse, a disturbingly large number of American flights have been late recently. The Wall Street Journal reveals that only 48 percent of American flights arrived on time on Sunday, and 39 percent of flights arrived on time on Monday. Those are pretty dismal numbers, and for the most part, they’ve been that way all week.

SmarterTravel’s Ed Perkins reported on this earlier in the week, but it looks like the situation could only get worse. In fact, some analysts are telling travelers to book away from American. The WSJ suggests flyers flat out avoid the airline this fall: “American said on Monday that it was cutting its fall schedule back some to give more flexibility for covering flights when pilots call in sick or delay flights. That might help some, but the prospect for more labor problems this fall should give travelers concern.”

But opinions, of course, are mixed. Other travel experts are saying it’s too early to book away from the major U.S. carrier.

So travelers, beware. In the meantime, we’ll keep you posted on the status of American.

Would you book a flight with American this season?