American 777 200

We have actually seen all of the “big three” United States airline companies substantially downsize their Asia flying due to reduced need arising from coronavirus, and now American Airlines has become the very first United States airline (as far as I understand) to downsize Europe flying.

American suspends Milan flights

American Airlines has revealed that they’re suspending their flights from both Miami and New York to Milan through April 25, 2020 American Airlines notes that this choice is being made due to decrease in demand.

American says they will accommodate customers on other flights, though alternatives to Milan are much more restricted than in the past, as British Airways and other providers have canceled quite a bit of service to Northern Italy.

Consumers with canceled flights can naturally get a refund as well, must they so select.

American crew refused to operate Milan flight

As kept in mind by @xJonNYC, the decision to suspend these flights came after an American Airlines team presumably declined to run the New York to Milan flight last night. AA198 from New York City to Milan was set up to be run by a 777-200, and was postponed prior to being canceled.

Corriere reports that American Airlines initially said that the flight was canceled “for operational reasons,” however when pushed, revealed more information:

” The factor for the cancellation was the staff’s decision not to fly due to fears connected to coronavirus in Northern Italy. We can ensure you that all travelers will be accommodated on other flights to Milan.”

While American Airlines states that the paths being canceled for weeks is a result of decreased demand, it sure seems like it may have more to do with teams declining to operate these flights. That’s due to the fact that last night a spokesperson said:

” When it comes to our flights to Italy, in the coming days we will assess what choices to make.”

Then just quickly afterwards the airline canceled all flights to Milan for weeks. It sure seems to me like problems with crews might have been an encouraging factor in the immediate cancelations.

American workers sure seem to be driving path cancelations here.

CDC puts Italy on Level 3 caution

All of this comes as the Centers for Illness Control and Prevention has actually put Italy on a Level 3 caution, motivating people to avoid unnecessary travel.

On top of that, Lombardy and Venete has been put on a Level 4 warning, encouraging individuals to not take a trip there at all.

Bottom line

American Airlines will be suspending flights to Milan through late April. While they state it’s due to lowered need, it appears probably that crewing these flights is also a major concern.

It’s one thing if they canceled simply one flight to Italy, however they canceled both, and the choice came immediately after a team declined to run a flight.

Ben (Lucky)

About Ben (Fortunate)

Ben Schlappig (aka Fortunate) is a travel expert, blogger, and avid points collector.
He travels about 400,000 miles a year, mostly using miles and indicate enhance his very first class experiences.
He narrates his experiences, in addition to industry news, here at One Mile at a Time.

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