American Airlines to end flights to New Delhi and Burbank to offset losses

American Airlines recently announced that it has decided to stop its flights to New Delhi and Burbank owing to mounting financial worries.

The airline said that flights to New Delhi from Chicago O’Hare on its international network will stop operating from March 1, 2012. Besides on its domestic front, the airline has said that it will stop operating flights to Burbank from Dallas-Fort Worth from February 9, 2012.

American Airlines attributed several factors regarding its decisions over closure of its operations in New Delhi and Burbank. The airline said that loss of a U.S. Postal Service domestic mail contract due to job cuts and a reduced winter flight schedule were the primary reasons behind the stopping of flight services.

The airline is presently confronted with tremendous financial difficulties and had filed for bankruptcy protection on November 29, 2011.

However, the decision to end Chicago-New Delhi service comes at a time even as American Airline’s international traffic continues to be stronger than in the domestic sector. In December 2011, its international traffic increased 3.7 percent whereas its US traffic was down 3.9 percent.

Despite stopping its Chicago-New Delhi service, the airline will continue to sell its service to India through deals with Kingfisher Airlines, Jet Airways, British Airways and Finnair.