Although this service was halted for several months due to the Iran conflict, it now appears that the situation has shifted from a suspension to a cancellation.
American will not reinstate its Philadelphia to Doha route
American Airlines has decided against resuming its service between Philadelphia (PHL) and Doha (DOH), thus this route has been “permanently” eliminated (or at least, as permanent as anything is in the airline industry). This has been confirmed by the airline’s Senior Vice President of Network Planning, Brian Znotins.
Until recently, American had removed availability for the route through January 2027. However, this flight has now been entirely removed from the schedule, signifying that there are no intentions to bring it back.
For some context, American began its service to Doha in June 2022, starting from New York (JFK), as part of a strategic alliance with Qatar Airways, which involved more than just shared membership in the oneworld alliance.
This specific route didn’t endure long, and by October 2023, American relocated its Doha route from New York to Philadelphia. This appeared to be a coordinated strategy with Qatar Airways, essentially involving a route exchange — concurrently, Qatar Airways discontinued its service to Philadelphia and increased its daily flights to New York.
It’s not unexpected that American has now discontinued this service, particularly since we recently learned that Qatar Airways plans to resume this route, taking over for American in Philadelphia.
With this turn of events, American’s only long-haul destinations from Philadelphia are to Europe, as this was the carrier’s longest route from that airport, and the only long-haul flight to the Middle East.
My perspective on American discontinuing Doha flights
I believe there are several perspectives to consider when evaluating American’s choice to cease flights to Doha.
It’s obvious that the ongoing conflict in the Middle East complicates matters for the airline industry, as it remains uncertain when global airlines can reliably recommence services to the region without the fear of interruptions from Iranian missiles.
Reliability is crucial for airlines since aircraft are significant investments, and they can’t just be quickly reassigned to another route, particularly in terms of generating demand in alternate markets swiftly. Therefore, if a route cannot be consistently operated, it carries considerable risk.
Additionally, the whole challenge of achieving profitability on long-haul flights is becoming increasingly difficult due to current jet fuel prices, and it remains unclear when this situation might improve.
From a broader perspective, however, American’s service to Doha never seemed particularly sensible to me, at least in the long term, and considering American’s long-haul approach:
- Qatar has been providing substantial incentives for foreign airlines to operate to Doha, so I suspect that was a motivating factor for American to begin service there, and perhaps those incentives are only effective for a limited time
- I completely understand that this route was somewhat meant to funnel passengers into Qatar Airways’ network, whether they are traveling to destinations in the Middle East, India, Africa, etc.
- The problem was that it’s unclear why someone would choose American over Qatar Airways; Qatar Airways provides a significantly enhanced passenger experience and has a far more competitive cost structure
- American doesn’t show a great deal of interest in being a global airline to begin with, unlike United, where a vast global route network is integral to the airline’s loyalty value proposition
American is reported to…