American Airlines cuts flights due to pilot shortage 

American Airlines announced that it will stop flying to the New York cities of Ithaca and Islip, as well as Toledo, Ohio, in September as the industry faces a pilot shortage, according to The New York Post. 

“In response to the regional pilot shortage affecting the airline industry, American Airlines has made the difficult decision to end service,” said American Airlines spokeswoman Andrea Koos.

“We’re extremely grateful for the care and service our team members provided to our customers in Islip, Ithaca, and Toledo and are working closely with them during this time. We'll proactively reach out to customers scheduled to travel after this date to offer alternate arrangements," she continued. 

The move will greatly impact Toledo, where American Airlines is the only major carrier flying into the city and the next closest airport is 50 miles away in Detroit. 

The cuts are being made through American’s regional carrier Envoy Air. In addition, the airline announced additional route suspensions between Charlotte and El Paso, Charlotte and Sioux Falls, and Dallas to San Pedro, Sula, Honduras. 

Additionally, the airline will suspend trips between Philadelphia and Santo Domingo and Philadelphia to Santiago, Dominican Republic, this winter. 

The airline industry is facing a pilot and staff shortage and flight schedule reductions. Pilot shortages stem from thousands of retirements and buyouts during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

However, post-pandemic travel picked up faster than airlines expected, leaving thousands of flights without enough crew or pilots to operate flights. 

Other airlines have also canceled routes, citing staffing shortages as one of the main reasons. Delta plans to cut 100 flights from its schedule, primarily in the U.S. and Latin America. Southwest announced that it would cut 20,000 flights this summer. 

This weekend during the Juneteenth holiday, around 5,000 flights were canceled, and an additional 27,000 were delayed since Thursday.