American Airlines teased five cities for new routes. They dropped image clues. I decoded them, or at least tried. JonNYC thinks it was all a ruse. A trick.
He says the real story isn’t in those pictures. The real move? A return to Reykjavik.
No one knows where they’ll fly from. Nobody knows which plane they’ll use. It’s a mystery, and honestly, it’s annoying.
Logically? Philadelphia.
It’s American’s Transatlantic gateway. That makes sense. But history has a funny way of repeating itself, usually involving a lack of competition. Remember when they flew Dallas-Fort Worth to Reykjavik? Yeah, that. Icelandair and WOW Air were there too. Doug Parker, then-CEO, laid it out with brutal honesty.
Somebody starts flying a flight from Dallas to anybody and American either is already there or We’re going to be there Because We’re not going to let Customers have Another option Other than American in And out of Here
Capitalization like that screams conviction. Or arrogance.
When Icelandair and WOW Air bailed, American pulled out too. Suddenly no one else was fighting them. No competition. All to themselves. And did they rush in? No. They didn’t want to fly it without rivals to crush. They moved everything to Philly before the pandemic even started.
So, back to now. If Philly is indeed the hub, what bird takes us up there?
Iceland is a leisure spot. Vacation land. Not business class suite country. Philly to Reykjavik is shorter than Boston to San Francisco. The A321XLR feels too heavy. Too premium. Business suites? Premium economy? For a short hop over water where most people just want to sleep or read? Maybe. But maybe not.
The 737 MAX is a possibility. The A321neo works for summer, though westbound headwinds in winter are a killer.
It’s seasonal. US to Iceland is the definition of seasonal. And the field is getting crowded. Icelandair has the home turf advantage. Delta is there. United is there. Alaska added Reykjavik. Southwest might join the fray soon, leveraging their MAXes from Baltimore and their Icelandair partnership. A new gateway to Europe.
Is American ready for this fight?
Or are they just looking at an empty seat on a cold January night wondering if anyone actually cares about Reykjavik from Philly. The plane remains a secret. The departure city, likely Philly, is still up in the air. Iceland is beautiful in the snow, but profitability isn’t always pretty. We wait.
