American Airlines adds new rare Boston route, cuts in Miami

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American Airlines is adding a rare nonhub route.

The airline will add service between Boston and Buffalo, as first seen in Cirium schedules and later confirmed by a carrier spokesperson.

The new 396-mile route will take off March 8, 2026, and operate up to three times a day. American last operated this route in July 2017.

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American Eagle subsidiaries Envoy Air and Republic Airways will operate the new route using Embraer E175 aircraft, featuring 12 first-class seats, 20 extra-legroom Main Cabin Extra seats and 44 standard economy seats.

While new domestic routes are pretty common for American, it’s not often that the carrier adds service between two nonhub airports. The move, however, could be seen as a competitive jab against JetBlue Airways, which has operated a monopoly on this route since August 2023, when Delta Air Lines pulled out of the market.

Delta and JetBlue are fighting neck and neck for dominance in Boston, so it’s particularly interesting to see American come in and launch this route. Most aviation observers likely would’ve expected Delta to return to the market instead.

That said, American and JetBlue did team up as part of the now-defunct Northeast Alliance in Boston and New York between 2021 and 2023. As part of the tie-up, the airlines coordinated schedules and offered reciprocal loyalty benefits for flyers. Now that the alliance has ended due to antitrust concerns, the two carriers are back to competing across the country.

Department of Transportation data analyzed by Cirium shows that JetBlue carried an average of 183 passengers per day on this route with a gross fare of $178.

Elsewhere, American is cutting service from Miami to Sacramento. This route launched in December 2023 and will now cease flying Jan. 5, 2026.

American had launched the route as part of a domestic expansion from Miami, which even included another new transcontinental flight to Portland, Oregon.

Seemingly, Sacramento wasn’t as lucrative as American had hoped. Going forward, American will continue flying to Sacramento from Charlotte, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles and Phoenix.

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