American Airlines Cancels San Juan Caribbean Links from April 2013

I knew they were scaling back, but didn't expect Eagle to stop flying these routes entirely. I'm sure this will be a big blow to some of these islands, and I will personally miss the options to St. Croix and Beef Island.

http://www.routesonline.com/news/38...ls-san-juan-a-caribbean-links-from-april-2013

Update at 0740GMT 09JAN13

American Airlines continues to scale back its operation in Puerto Rico as the oneWorld member is terminating all Caribbean service out of San Juan, starting 01APR13. Operational schedules on/after 01APR13 are still available in timetable listing, however reservations are closed. List of route closures and operational frequencies in March 2013 as follows.
San Juan – Antigua 1 daily
San Juan – Beef Island 4 daily
San Juan – Dominica 1 daily
San Juan – Fort-de-France 1 daily
San Juan – Punta Cana 2 daily
San Juan – Santiago (Dominican Republic) 1 daily
San Juan – Santo Domingo 2 daily
San Juan – St. Croix 2 daily
San Juan – St. Kitts 1 daily
San Juan – St. Thomas 2 daily
AA will continue to operate San Juan – Caracas service, its sole international route out of Puerto Rico from 01APR13.

Don't they serve most of these out of Miami? Not as convenient, for sure...

The initial annoucement about SJU's downsizing was that all Eagle routes would be discontinued and that only AA mainline would remain, so this fits exactly with what was announced in April 2012. Mainline flights from SJU back to the US remain, and the SJU-CCS flight is also operated by AA mainline.

Sad but it makes sense since......

SJU was built up by AA out of neccesity considering the state of aviation in the Caribbean at the time. Modernization of airports, airplanes, and runways over the years now means AA can serve those Caribbean destinations better out of MIA rather than maintain the mini-hub out of SJU.

So how long for the Admirals Club at SJU

One small bit of "hope"-- although not sure really how much hope:

Retaining the flights would be good, but I'm sure many wouldn't like what I suspect is likely to be codesharing on another carrier. I'm not a huge Caribbean traveler so I'm not too concerned, but I know many love AA's flights into the islands.

For those of us living on an island serviced from SJU this is a huge blow. We fly to SJU every other month for shopping and the money we save pays for flights and hotel (not to mention contributes significantly to AA and SPG / Hilton requalification every year). Praying they codeshare with another airline or I'll be hurting

I didn't even know AA flew these routes until I saw they were cancelled.

We visited San Juan once and weren't impressed, but have been visiting Curaçao a fair bit and really like it. We're thinking of using some local island-hopper to do day trips to some nearby islands (where there are no Hiltons).

MAH is reporting on FT that Cape Air will partner up and try and fill in some gaps that way. And, you're completely correct IMHO, some/many will not find that to be a good alternative.

For me the downer is Cape Air itself, their service in STX is awful and though I enjoy their generous pet policy (they fly in the cabin with us) and the Cessna that's also their big drawback, the crossing is just too slow and there's no cargo room in the Cessnas and AA currently brings us a decent bit of cargo from SJU. As much as I don't like Jetblue at least they've got a proper plane and can accommodate connecting pax and local traffic. Even Seaborne with their new Saabs would be much better.

Which Saabs? I was pretty fond of the 340B+. The "+" model was a real improvement.

So if Cape Air is going to fill in for AE, will they base their operations out of SJU? And being an AA partner, would my benefits transfer over if I am connecting to them to my final destination? I will be heading down to DOM in the summer and wonder if I am stuck with LIAT or do I have an alternative?

Unless I'm mistaken, every route being eliminated is still serviced via AA mainline from MIA.

Don't think AA has MIA-EIS or MIA-DOM unless I'm missing something.

Currently no MIA-FDF operating, but that will launch 5 days after the SJU-FDF flight goes away.

Yes, you're right of course-- got myself confused with the SDQ/STI situation.

They'll be flying 340Bs starting this month, I've seen one buzzing overhead a few times the last few weeks and they always have it parked up by the fence near the road for some eye candy.

Does this throw a wrench into things though? Just received this email from Seaborne:

The San Juan team of Seaborne has relocated adjacent to American Airlines ticket
counter by checkpoint 2. We have also moved our gate operation to Terminal D,
Gate 18. Please note this change when checking in for your connections or island
hopping flights. This change is effective January 16, 2013. We have moved the
concierge lounge as well to maintain your comfort while waiting between flights.

They currently fly out of the other side of the airport from AA and now will be the only airline sharing AA's terminal...this along with their new Saabs has me hopeful it will be Seaborne and not Cape Air. Come to think of it they announced their fleet expansion roughly the same time last year as the end of Eagle service rumours started floating around. The St. John Source (local paper)quoted Seaborne’s marketing consultant Angelia Hanne, as saying that with American Airlines ending flights out of San Juan to St. Thomas and St. Croix, Seaborne expects to fill in the gap.

Not the + model?

Just saw on capeair's website they have a news update saying that they are AA's new Caribbean partner with expanded codeshares:
AMERICAN AIRLINES AND CAPE AIR ANNOUNCE EXPANDED CODESHARE RELATIONSHIP

Enhanced relationship allows for increased access to the Caribbean with service from San Juan


(sorry don't have enough posts yet to post the link)

Interesting that there's no USVI listed, are they leaving us out to dry because of the direct flights to Miami?

Really? I love Puerto Rico. It's pretty awesome once you get out there (e.g., to the Arecibo observatory).

Another update from Seaborne this morning:
FEB. 8, 2013: Seaborne's St. Croix Check-In is moving
The Seaborne St. Croix check-in counter is moving to a new area!
We will be moving next to American Airlines check-in near Gate 7

I'll be flying out this evening and will verify if the move has happened, maybe dig for some info too. This will put Seaborne again next to an AA counter and flying out of the same terminal/departure lounge as AA (same changes as SJU)

It seems to be official now that Seaborne will be handling AA's SJU-STX/STT ops, from an email this morning:

1210 Watergut • Christiansted, VI 00820 • 340.773.5991

Dear Valued Corporate Customer,
Seaborne Airlines is growing and improving for you!

First, we are excited to announce that Seaborne has entered into an interline arrangement with American Airlines which will make connections from STT and STX even easier! Effective Wednesday, February 13, 2013, baggage will transfer between carriers as opposed to having to be rechecked with the other carrier and soon Seaborne will be issuing boarding passes on American flights. As many of you know, we recently relocated at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport to be close to American in Concourse D. And soon, all Seaborne flights will be displayed on AA.com as part of this new arrangement.

With Seaborne taking over is AA code sharing? If so, are we eligible for earning miles and baggage perks if we come in on an AA flight?

You're always eligible on an AA flight number.

Sent from my iPhone using milepoint

Does anyone know when flights with Seaborne code sharing will show up in the system? I just tried looking at flights to DOM online and it says no go.

Unless I'm mistaken, you're not eligible for AA's baggage perks simply for flying on an AA codeshare.