American Airlines is to boost its network from Ft Lauderdale this winter with the introduction of a new service to Los Angeles as well as additional frequencies on existing flights to Chicago O'Hare and Dallas/Fort Worth. The US major currently offers two daily flights from Ft Lauderdale to Chicago, New York as well as Port Au Prince in Haiti, and up to seven flights per day to Dallas, but with its planned expansion will increase capacity by just under a third. The Ft Lauderdale market is currently dominated by low-cost carriers with Spirit Airlines, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways the three largest operators and together accounting for a 51.7 per cent of the total weekly seat capacity.
The first stage of American’s winter growth in Southern Florida will be the introduction of a daily connection to Los Angeles from November 17, a move that complements the ten new cities the carrier added from its West Coast cornerstone last spring, when it increased its departures from Los Angeles International Airport by 28 per cent. The route is already served daily by JetBlue and Spirit and twice daily by Virgin America. An estimated 427,000 O&D passengers travelled in this market in the past year, up 20.9 per cent on the previous 12 month period.
At the same time American will introduce an additional daily flight to Chicago O’Hare, followed by a fourth daily rotation from February 9, 2012. The carrier currently holds a 33 per cent share of the traffic in this market handling an estimated 147,000 O&D passengers in the past year. This share has declined by three per cent over the past 12 months as market leader Spirit Airlines has increased its own share of the market thanks to its ultra low fares. In the year ending May 2011, these averaged $95 per sector, around a third of the $283 average one-way ticket price of American. Spirit currently offers three flights per day between Ft Lauderdale and Chicago, while Continental Airlines has entered the market this year with two flights per day.
The final stage of this network expansion at Ft Lauderdale will be the addition of a further daily flight to Dallas/Fort Worth. This will also be introduced from February 9, 2012 and will strengthen the carrier’s leading position in this market. It carried an estimated 193,000 O&D passengers between the two airports, although additional passenger numbers would certainly have taken advantage of its hub to connect on to other destinations. Like its other Ft Lauderdale routes, Spirit Airlines is its main competitor, the low-cost venture offering a twice daily schedule. American currently holds an 86 per cent share of the total 225,000 O&D passenger market but this share is likely to fall, despite the frequency increase, as Spirit establishes itself on the route.
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