The airlines are reducing capacity from the Texas capital.
An American Airlines jet landing on runway 18R with the Austin skyline in the background. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Mateen Kontoravdis)
Both American and Allegiant are cutting several routes in Austin. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the airport saw rapid growth with airlines doubling down on new routes. In 2021, American added 14 new routes from Austin; Allegiant opened a crew base that same year.
Last year, American announced plans to cut 21 routes from the central Texas airport. In a recent Cirium Diio schedule update, the Fort Worth-based carrier is slated to cut more routes starting in late 2024.
Joining the route cuts from earlier this year, American plans to remove service from Austin to Las Vegas, New Orleans, Orlando, Palm Springs, and Reno in November 2024. All of these routes were added in 2021.
An airline spokesperson confirmed the market exits in a statement. “As part of the continuous evaluation of our network, American will reduce service from Austin (AUS) starting in October. American will continue to offer customers access to our comprehensive global network of more than 350 destinations with one-stop connections. We’re proactively reaching out to impacted customers and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause,” the carrier said.
The airline had planned to relaunch service from Austin to Reno in May 2025, but the route is now removed after being paused in August 2024. In addition, American is scaling back flights between Austin and Raleigh/Durham, removing the route from its schedule in January, February, and March. It is slated to resume in April 2025.
With these cuts, American will continue to serve Austin from most of its hubs in addition to Aspen, Nashville, Boston, Cancun, Cabo San Lucas, and Santa Ana/Orange County.
Ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) Allegiant is also scaling back its operations in Austin, citing constraints around gate space. In June, the airline announced plans to close its nearly three-year-old crew base at the airport, which employed roughly 90 people with three Airbus A320 aircraft.
The base is slated to close in early 2025. However, starting in August 2024, the carrier will slash service on several routes from Austin. As first reported by KUT News, these markets include Bozeman, Eugene, Sioux Falls, Washington Dulles, Indianapolis, Omaha, Pittsburg, San Diego, Louisville, Orlando Sanford, and Santa Ana/Orange County.
Allegiant will continue to serve routes to its other bases, including Cincinnati, Anaheim, Des Moines, Provo, Asheville, and Sarasota.
The City of Austin — which operates Bergstrom International Airport — plans to close the South Terminal in 2026 to make room for a larger midfield concourse. Both Allegiant and Frontier operate from this three-gate terminal.
According to a statement from Allegiant last month, the city offered it space at the airport’s main terminal, which was not enough to sustain a base.
“We’re hoping to backfill some of those seats with other carriers and encourage Allegiant to fly to other Allegiant bases that they currently don’t fly to [from] Austin,” the airport’s business development director Jamy Kazanoff told KUT.
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