American Airlines Cancels Raleigh-Tampa, Austin-St. Louis Routes
American Airlines is canceling two domestic routes:
• Raleigh/Durham, NC (RDU) to Tampa, FL (TPA)
• Austin, TX (AUS) to St. Louis, MO (STL)
Both routes are presently suspended. Raleigh/Durham to Tampa is set to resume in November using a daily Embraer 175, but will now end shortly after.
RDU-TPA is a highly competitive market that has seen a variety of airlines serve the route. As of now, American, Avelo Airlines, Breeze Airways, Delta Air Lines, and Southwest Airlines presently offer flights from Raleigh/Durham to Tampa. However, two airlines are set to exit the market.
Avelo Airlines will end RDU-TPA after October 29. The carrier launched flights from Raleigh to Tampa in February 2023 as part of its new RDU base. Avelo attempted several competitive Florida flights from RDU, such as Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and Orlando (MCO) alongside Tampa, but will be ending FLL and MCO as well.
Now American Airlines is next to exit the Raleigh/Durham to Tampa market, with its flights set to end after January 7, 2024. The carrier commenced RDU-TPA in November 2021 with twice-daily flights using a mix of Airbus A319 and Embraer 175 aircraft.
Within the past several years, a variety of airlines have offered flights from Raleigh to Tampa, especially during COVID-19 when airlines pivoted towards adding more point-to-point leisure routes:
Avelo Airlines (ending after October 29, 2023)
American Airlines (ending after January 7, 2024)
Breeze Airways (new entrant, launched RDU-TPA earlier this month)
Delta Air Lines (still flying)
Frontier Airlines (ended)
JetBlue (ended)
Southwest Airlines (still flying)
Allegiant Air previously served the RDU—Tampa Bay market through St. Petersburg (PIE) as a proxy destination.
Data Source: Department of Transportation Consumer Airfare Report
RDU-TPA saw a peak of 403 Passengers Daily Each Way (PDEW) in the second quarter of 2022, which is nearly 50 passengers greater than the highest level pre-COVID in 2019. Average overall fares rapidly rose throughout 2022—possibly due to travel demand quickly recovering—which may have prompted ultra low-cost carriers Avelo and Breeze to add their own flights.
As for American Airlines’ Austin to St. Louis route, which launched in 2021 as part of a major Austin expansion, it is currently suspended and was supposed to resume in February 2024. However, American has now canceled its resumption.