American Airlines to stop Santa Fe-Los Angles flights Sept 8

American Airlines recently announced it will permanently stop its nonstop flights between Santa Fe Municipal Airport and Los Angeles International Airport from September 8, 2015. The regional service between the two cities was started four years ago and was considered to be a valuable link for business travelers and great boost to Santa Fe’s tourism industry.

Jenna Arnold, Manager of Corporate Relations for American Airlines, said, “The company constantly evaluates its network for maximizing its fleet and matching customer demands. The regional route was not financially viable for the company to continue for long. Unable to bear with the mounting losses, it has been decided to drop the direct service on the route from September 8.”

The once-a-day flights between Santa Fe and Los Angeles was however quite popular with all those working in the Hollywood film industry as well as those seeking air connectivity to the Pacific Northwest, Hawaii and Asia. But in recent months the travel demand had significantly dipped thus forcing the company to stop flight operations between the two cities completely from September this year.

She however said that the passenger traffic on the route between Santa Fe and Dallas/Fort Worth continues to remain strong as ever and the airline will continue to operate flights as usual. American Airlines is presently serving the two cities with thrice daily roundtrip flights.

Media reports quoted Simon Brackley, President and CEO of the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce, as saying that the news of American Airlines deciding to stop flights between the two cities is rather disappointing. “The business community in Santa Fe will continue to make efforts to encourage other U.S. carriers to fill in the void and begin flights services from the city,” Simon Brackley said.