American Airlines' Jim Moses expects this summer's rush, which begins May 17 and runs through September 3, to exceed pre-pandemic levels.
FORT WORTH, Texas — American Airlines' DFW Control Center is the decision-making hub for the airline's daily operations.
This team is tasked with overseeing the operations of the world's largest airline. They collect data about flights, crews, aircraft maintenance, and weather, and troubleshoot any problems that arise.
And now they're gearing up for their busiest summer travel schedule ever.
“This summer, DFW Airport will serve more than 11 million customers and approximately 100,000 departures,” said Jim Moses, vice president of DFW Airport Operations for American Airlines. “So we've been preparing. We're ready.”
Moses said this summer's rush, which begins May 17 and runs through September 3, will exceed pre-pandemic levels.
We offer flights to 233 destinations, including new direct flights to Barcelona, Tulum and Veracruz.
“We created a schedule that we knew we could operate on,” Moses said. “We have the staff and team members in place to operate and are very confident in the reliability of our fleet.”
But the announcement comes as Boeing's problems continue to hang over the industry. American Airlines says its summer flights will not be affected, but it will reduce flights on some routes this fall and winter.
“There are some flights that will be reduced in the fall and winter schedule. We are dealing with Boeing's 787 delays,” Moses said.
Sean Cudahy of travel blog The Points Guy said the cuts would affect long-haul international flights to destinations such as Dublin and Rome, but the large-scale cuts are a silver lining for American Airlines. He says that the key to light is the diversity of the equipment we have.
“They haven't ordered as many Boeing aircraft over the next few years as their competitors, so they're not as exposed to some of the Boeing challenges,” Cudahy said.
With everything going on at Boeing, the question on everyone's mind is how it will affect ticket prices.
“Honestly, here at The Points Guy, we're actually seeing an overall downward trend in prices this summer compared to past summers,” Cudahy said.
This means now may be the best time to book a vacation.
