Bargain Fares Have Driven Up DFW Traffic
Responding to a
steady increase in demand for seats at Dallas/Fort Worth International
Airport, American Airlines and its regional affiliate, American Eagle,
today announced additional service increases at DFW that will surpass
earlier projections and take the carriers to a combined total of 839
departures a day at DFW by July 2005. “We are pleased to have so many additional customers turning to us for
their travel needs,” said Dan Garton, American’s Executive Vice President
of Marketing. “The additional flights will allow us to make even more
seats available at DFW Airport, where our booking activity for American
and American Eagle combined has increased by more than 12 percent since
Delta’s draw-down began and we announced our new fare structure in
January.”
Garton noted that American’s expansion at DFW is aided by the de-peaking
of the hub in November 2002. By spreading out the flow of flights
throughout the day, American can move airplanes in and out of its DFW
terminals more efficiently and make it easier for customers to catch their
connecting flights. This process, refined by American over the past two
years, paves the way for growth when customer demand rises.
Last September, when they first announced their DFW expansion plans,
American and American Eagle said that together they would add a total of
70 daily departures at DFW by the summer of 2005. Later, that growth
projection was increased to about 90 flights a day. With the latest
service additions, American and American Eagle will have 119 more flights
a day at DFW in July 2005 than the carriers did last July.
Overall, by July 2005 American will have increased daily flight
frequencies on a total of 61 routes from DFW. Meanwhile, American Eagle by
July will have introduced a total of 11 new markets at DFW and added
service in another 29 markets.
In total, American will have a record 550 mainline jet flights a day at
DFW by July, an increase of 45 flights a day from a year ago. American
Eagle’s DFW service will increase by 74 flights, from 215 a day last July
to 289 flights in July 2005, also a record high.
ADVERTISEMENT
This year, American is adding service at DFW in February, March, April and
June, including additional flights to Los Angeles, New York, Chicago,
Boston and more than 50 other U.S. destinations, and increased frequency
to such international points as London’s Gatwick Airport and Tokyo, Japan.
In November, the airline will resume nonstop service between DFW and
Osaka, Japan. The international additions occur as DFW and American
prepare for the opening of DFW’s new International Terminal D in July.
As part of its expansion, American Eagle either has or soon will begin
service to 11 new destinations from DFW: Peoria and Champaign, Ill.;
Pensacola, Fla.; Torreon, San Luis Potosi, and Chihuahua, Mexico; Buffalo,
N.Y.; Lexington, Ky., and Savannah, Ga. Two additional cities will be
announced soon.
——-