American drops daily RDM-LAX flight, but adding second flight to Phoenix

(Update: More details; AA has stopped LAX flights, dates on new Sept. flights by United, American)

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) – With the travel industry still in upheaval due to COVID-19, the Redmond Municipal Airport has lost its American Airlines daily flight to Los Angeles, but will be gaining a second American daily flight to Phoenix in the fall, Airport Manager Zachary Bass said.

Bass confirmed the word RDM had received amid online reports that American has ended its flights between LAX and six cities, part of a broad set of cuts across its route map. The other airports who lost their LAX flights, the reports say, include Eugene, Medford, Fresno, San Diego and Louisville, Kentucky.

In Redmond, Bass said Monday, American is “going to take the aircraft from LA, which has a lot more competition, and add a second Phoenix” flight.

Alaska Airlines (which announced last week a new San Jose-RDM flight starting in March) and United also have or will have daily flights to LA out of Redmond, Bass noted.

“So it’s not the loss of a destination – it’s the loss of an airline to a destination,” the airport manager said.

American's second daily flight to Phoenix is set to start Sept. 9, Bass said Tuesday.

"PHX has historically been one of our most-used flights, and we are excited that American is adding a second daily flight," he said.

While Alaska has continued its daily flights to LAX, United will restart theirs on Sept. 8, Bass said.

Bass noted that “Alaska and United are flying larger planes” than American on the RDM-LAX route, so the airline had been losing market share.

Redmond Airport has been back up to about 40 percent of normal boardings – a far cry from the meager 5 percent passenger count in the worst of the COVID-19 hit, but still a significant downturn, Bass said. He expressed concern that surges in case counts could keep things tough.

“Everything’s kind of changed,” Bass said. “Usually, six months out, we knew the schedule. Now it’s (changing) almost weekly.”