American Airlines pulls plug on flights to multiple major cities

The travel industry has been in flux since Covid, with many airlines making changes to their schedules in response to weakened travel demand.

These changes haven’t stopped in the aftermath of the pandemic, as other headwinds have faced the industry, including inflation and economic uncertainty related to tariffs. All of these financial issues have led many people to be reluctant to take trips, resulting in weakened demand.

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Now, American Airlines is in the process of trying to make some additional modifications to its flight schedule, which includes scaling back trips to several major cities. 

American Airlines is one of multiple carriers that has moved to make this type of change, and there are very good reasons why this airline, along with several of its competitors, are looking to modify schedules and make adjustments to the number of flights going to these destinations.

Here are the changes that American Airlines is hoping to implement.

American Airlines wants to cut service to these key cities

According to recent reports from The U.S. Sun on July 29, 2025, American Airlines is moving to substantially reduce the number of flights that are going to be headed to various destinations in Cuba.

Related: United Airlines cancels all flights to major city starting September

The Sun reported that American Airlines executives filed a motion back in March, aiming to cut services to:

• Havana
• Holguin
• Varadero
• Santiago de Cuba

American Airlines also made a second request in June regarding these flights, and also now wants to scale back its daily Miami-Santiago de Cuba round trip, according to papers seen by The U.S. Sun. The Sun’s reports indicated that American Airlines is hoping to cut:

• Three of the eight daily Miami-Havana round trips that currently fly on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
• Four of its eight Miami to Havana round trips that currently fly on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
• The daily Miami-Holguin round trip service currently flying on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
• One of the two daily Miami to Santa Clara trips

The goal of these cuts is allocating resources more effectively.

However, there is no guarantee that these flights will necessarily disappear, as the Department of Transportation must approve the removal of the flights before American Airlines can follow through with pulling the plug on them.

Unless or until that happens, travelers can still book these flights on American Airlines into Cuba, so there will be no immediate change to anyone’s travel plans.

American Airlines is not the only carrier changing its Cuba travel schedule

American Airlines is not the only one that wants to fly airplanes into Cuba’s major cities. United Airlines also cut flights to Cuba beginning in September, with that carrier ending the only flight that it was currently offering to the island destination.

Airlines are pulling out of Cuba because of a major drop in demand for flights to this destination, as the Trump administration has taken a harder line on Cuban travel than  past administrations.

Related: Southwest Airlines cancels hundreds of flights from July to Sept.

For example, the Trump administration restored Visa requirements for some Cuban officials in June and announced efforts to more strictly enforce bans on Cuban tourism.

While previous administrations had moved to make travel to Cuba easier, the Trump administration is doing the reverse — and the fact remains that Americans still can’t simply travel to Cuba, except for one of 12 approved reasons, including doing humanitarian work or visiting family.

More on travel:

• U.S. government issues serious warning for cruise passengers
• Delta Air Lines makes a baggage change that travelers will like
• United Airlines passenger incident triggers quick response 

In light of these federal rule changes, plus the fact that American Airlines and others are reducing travel options to Cuba, life is becoming much more difficult for those who want to visit this island destination.