How American Airlines Chooses Which Routes to Fly

You have to credit Vasu Raja, American's vice president for planning, for declining to engage with a competitor. His counterpart at United, a former American executive, has publicly chided his former employer for not taking as many chances as United on ultra-long-haul flights. United is bullish on them, flying Boeing 787-9s on routes like Los Angeles-Singapore and Houston-Sydney. American has the same aircraft, so it could probably fly similar routes. But the two airlines have different philosophies, with American content to fly shorter stage lengths, except on a few must-fly routes, such as Dallas/Fort Worth to Hong Kong. "Whenever you fly a really long haul, whether that's across the U.S. or across the globe, you're tying up an airplane for a really long time," Raja said. "For us, the debate is really more about opportunity costs." I spent about an hour with Raja earlier this month in his office at American Airlines headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, learning about networ