u/Mangolicious786

I work for American Airlines (not in management or network planning), and this is one route choice I still don’t understand: DCA–SAT.

As most of you probably know, Reagan National Airport has the perimeter rule (roughly 1,250 miles), so beyond-perimeter slots are extremely limited and valuable. AA already uses theirs on PHX, LAX, LAS, and then they added SAT last year.

SAT… really?

From what I’ve seen just watching loads day to day, this route has struggled from the start. It launched on an A321neo (~196 seats) and I’ve personally seen it go out with as few as ~20 passengers and maybe 120–160 on better days. Never consistently full.

Then it got downgraded to a standard A321, still with weak loads. Then to a 737 (~172 seats), same story. Now, as of winter 2025, it’s down to a measly A319 (~128 seats). It’s somewhat fuller now....but using one of your precious beyond-perimeter slots on a 319 route just feels like such a miss.

I get that there may have been political pressure (looking at Ted Cruz), but still… this was a rare opportunity.

Personally, I would’ve much rather seen:

• SAN (huge O&D, underserved from DCA and AA Doesn't codeshare with AS on this)
• More LAX frequency?
• Competing with UA on SFO?
• Competing with DL/AS on SEA/PDX?
• Or even pushing something creative like DCA–DUB (preclearance makes it at least interesting to think about)

Instead we got San Antonio...the “Venice of Texas.”

Curious what others think: was this a strategic miss, or is there something behind the scenes (contracts, subsidies, politics) that makes this make more sense than it looks?