American Airlines cuts summer flights due to Boeing 787 delays

NEW YORK

American Airlines has said it would cut more international flights over the summer than originally planned as it deals with delays in deliveries of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner long-haul jet.

The plane has been plagued by major production problems after initial manufacturing flaws were discovered in the summer of 2020, and deliveries have been suspended since last May.

Boeing is in negotiations with U.S. aviation authorities, and unwilling to commit to a date to restart deliveries.

American Airlines was hoping to have 13 of the jets in its fleet by this year.

But in an internal notice seen by AFP, American said it was “taking a proactive approach to reduce the negative impact Boeing’s delays could have on our business and our customers.”

The airline will postpone the launch of its Dallas-Tel Aviv route as well as temporarily halt the Seattle-London, Dallas-Santiago de Chile and Los Angeles-Sydney routes. It will reduce Miami-Sao Paulo service to once per day.

The company had previously cut its flight schedule in December, giving up certain destinations such as Edinburgh, Prague and Dubrovnik.

Boeing has agreed to pay compensation to American for the losses caused by its delivery delays.

The manufacturer has estimated that the setbacks with the 787 will cost them $5.5 billion, between compensation paid to customers, additional work to be done on the planes and the slowdown of production.