American Airlines is adding two Midwestern routes to its Chicago O’Hare hub.
Three daily round-trip flights to Lansing, Mich., will begin Aug. 23 while two daily round-trip flights to Akron-Canton start Oct. 6. American’s American Eagle affiliates will fly both routes with 50-seat Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets.
As you would expect, the connection to American’s hub at Chicago O’Hare was welcomed by officials in both Lansing and Akron-Canton (airport code CAK).
“We are delighted that American is growing again at Akron-Canton Airport,” airport CEO Rick McQueen said in a statement. “Chicago is a top destination and an international gateway, giving CAK travelers even more options for business and vacation travel. We expect the flights to be very popular.”
American already flies from CAK to four other destinations: Charlotte, New York LaGuardia, Philadelphia and Washington Reagan National.
With the new Chicago flights, American will become the top carrier at CAK in terms of daily flights (13), though Delta will still fly with an overall higher seat count there, CAK spokeswoman Kristie Van Auken told The Akron Beacon Journal.
The new American flights also offer something of a rebound for CAK, which lost several Southwest routes in 2015. Southwest now flies only to Atlanta -- and seasonally to Orlando -- from Akron-Canton. But those loses have been partially offset by new American flights to New York – and now Chicago – as well as by new Allegiant routes to Florida.
In Lansing, officials at the city’s Capital Region International Airport also expressed enthusiasm for the new connection on American.
“The decision by American Airlines to bring new travel options to one of the nation’s premier hubs is an exciting development for both Lansing-area residents and visitors,” Robert Selig, CEO of the Capital Region Airport Authority, said in a statement. “Offering three daily nonstop flights from Lansing to Chicago represents a major upgrade in service by providing connection opportunities to more than 100 domestic and more than 10 international destinations.”
News of the O’Hare route comes shortly after American announced another new route from Lansing. That route – to Washington Reagan National Airport – will launch July 5.
Those routes are American’s only two routes from Lansing.
