U.S. Airlines Lose Tolerance for Money-Losing Flights as Fuel Prices Rise

For the past eight years, few American Airlines flights have lost as much money as Chicago to Beijing. No matter what airplane it used — the larger Boeing 777 at first, or the smaller and more fuel efficient Boeing 787-8 in later years— the route never clicked. Yet American kept the route in its "strategic flying," portfolio —  something Vasu Raju, American's vice president for planning, defined earlier this year in an interview as, "a euphemism for losing money but telling yourself it’s OK." There's some rationale for this approach. The U.S. and China limit flights between the two countries, and while there's now more supply than demand — meaning fares are low — carriers figure someday that will change as more Chinese travelers visit the United States. American didn't want to stop flying Chicago-Beijing only to have a competitor take the rights, move the flight to another airport, and make major profits in 2025. But American is giving up. In October it will end the route, and though it has asked the U.S. Department of Transportation to let it keep the rights, so it can use them in the future, there's no guarantee the government will grant its request. "We had made a tremendou