Fort Worth-based American Airlines is pausing or dropping dozens of international routes as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to crush travel demand.
It's suspended 16 international routes until winter 2020. Some flight paths — including Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to Rome — will be paused until the summer of 2021. Other routes — like DFW Airport to Munich — will be scrapped altogether.
American has also canceled plans to launch some new international routes, like a flight from Philadelphia to Casablanca, which would have been its first route to Africa.
Next summer, the airline projects a 25% decrease in long-haul international capacity compared to 2019.
Part of the company's reset involves making DFW Airport its hub for trans-Pacific travel.
This week, infectious disease experts criticized American's decision to book flights full as the pandemic continues spreading across the country.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top expert at the National Institutes of Health, is among those who questioned the decision. He said transmission of COVID-19 is even more worrisome in the confined space of an airplane.
There is no federal law to mandate face masks or leave middle seats open on commercial airplanes, but all major airlines now require face masks. Some carriers may also deny travel to passengers who refuse to wear one.
DFW Airport announced today that all passengers and employees will be required to wear face coverings starting Thursday.
