New Route of the Day – Americas (6 August 2026): American between New York JFK and Calgary
American commenced seasonal flights between New York JFK and Calgary on Thursday 6 August. The 3,285-kilometre service will be maintained 3-weekly, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, with the 172-seat 737 MAX 8 aircraft. The oneworld member will compete against daily year-round WestJet flights.
Flight AA1748 departs New York JFK at 09:29 local time, arriving in Calgary at 14:16 local time. The return service, operating under the same flight numbers, takes off at 15:37 local time, arriving back at JFK at 21:00 local time.
Operations will be maintained until 4 October.
What they said
Paola Torri, Director of Operations for Canada and Mexico at American, said: “We are proud to continue growing our presence in Canada during a milestone year for American and American’s Canadian service. With this new service, customers in Calgary can seamlessly connect through our JFK hub to destinations across the United States, Europe and beyond.”
Balazs Bogats, Chief Commercial Officer at Calgary Airports, added: “We’re seeing more Americans choose Calgary as their destination of choice, whether they’re coming for Stampede, exploring our city’s vibrant culture or using Calgary as their gateway to the mountains.”
Canada – US air travel stabilises after sharp decline
US – Canada air travel remained subdued during the first half of 2026, although the decline became less severe as the year progressed.
The number of Canadian residents returning by air from the US fell 12.8% year-on-year in January, 12% in February, 10.8% in March, 8.1% in April and 3.2% in May. Preliminary figures show a further 3.8% decline in June, leaving Canadian air travel from the US 25% below its June 2024 level.
Travel in the opposite direction was more resilient. US resident air arrivals in Canada increased during each of the first five months of 2026, including gains of 10.8% in April and 6% in May, before edging down 0.3% in June.
Canadian demand for US travel continues to be affected by political and trade tensions, while US demand for Canada has held up considerably better.
Airlines initially responded by making substantial capacity reductions. Canadian carriers cut almost 450,000 US-bound seats during the first quarter of 2026, representing a year-on-year decline of nearly 10%, with leisure destinations such as Las Vegas and Orlando among the hardest hit.
However, capacity began to stabilise during the summer, with seats down just 0.7% in July and up 0.7% in August, when airlines scheduled 3.43 million seats, making it the world’s third-largest international country market.