American increases flights as demand grows

American Airlines said Thursday it will boost its U.S. flight schedule next month over dramatic reductions since the coronavirus pandemic, planning to fly more than 55% of its July 2019 domestic capacity.

Fred Katayama reports.

American Airlines says bring on the summer.

It's aggressively increasingly flights in the U.S. next month after seeing demand improve in May.

The U.S.'

Largest airline plans to fly more than half of what its domestic capacity was in July of last year.

That's a big lift from 20% in May and 25% in June.

Overseas demand has been slower to return, but American will also increase its international flight schedule next month to nearly a fifth of its capacity last year.

The airline will fly more than 4000 flights on peak days in July.

While that's double that of May, it's still down from its DAILY peak of 6800.

American says it has been operating a larger schedule than other U.S. carriers.

American is boosting flights from New York, Los Angeles, Washington, Dallas Fort Worth and Charlotte.

And as national parks and vacation spots reopen, it'll add flights to major cities in Florida and the Gulf Coast.

The announcement fueled shares of American Airlines, lifting them 27% in Thursday morning trading and those of other airlines.