American Airlines may call Dallas home. However, one of America’s ‘Big Three’ carriers also maintains many other hubs scattered across the US Continent, including a former US Airways hub, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
(PHX).
Photo: Channing Reid | Simple Flying
PHX is a civil-military airport just three miles from Phoenix’s downtown core. Located in Maricopa County, PHX is Arizona’s largest and busiest airport and one of the busiest in the United States
. While the airport is a hub for AA, it is also an operating base for Frontier and Southwest Airlines.
33% of PHX operations belong to AA
Phoenix Sky Harbor has been operating for 96 years, officially opening in 1928. The airport saw rapid growth due to US Airways’ success. Following American Airlines’ acquisition of US Airways in 2013, AA found itself with an established bustling hub in Arizona.
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This year, data from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport identified that between September 2023 and August 2024, American Airlines was second in overall dominance at PHX, with 33.05% of all operations, of which the airline utilizes a mix of regional, narrow, and widebody aircraft, which we will decipher below. Total seat numbers in this period exceeded 15,676,000, just behind Southwest at 15,988,000 passengers (33.71%).
For passengers at PHX, the airport has 117 active gates spread across two terminals. What is most peculiar is that these terminals are referred to as T3 and T4, following the airport administration’s retirement of T1 and T2 to avoid any confusion for frequent travelers.
Terminal 3 is used for domestic and pre-cleared arriving flights and is the operating terminal for Frontier and Alaska Airlines. Along with American and Southwest flights, international passengers operate from Terminal 4. Three runways facilitate daily operations:
- Runway 8/26: 11,489 ft
- Runway 7L/25R: 10,300 ft
- Runway 7R/25L: 7,800 ft
American Airlines longest routes with the Boeing 737 MAX 8
While AA has an extensive network at the airport to many regional, domestic, and international destinations, Simple Flying decided to look at the top five most popular routes utilizing the carriers Boeing 737 MAX 8
aircraft. This variant can accommodate up to 172 passengers onboard, spread across three different fare classes, including:
|
Class of service |
Number of seats |
Seat width |
Seat pitch |
|---|---|---|---|
|
First |
16 |
21″ |
37″ |
|
Main Cabin Extra |
24 |
16.6″ – 17.8″ |
33″ |
|
Main Cabin |
132 |
16.6″ – 17.8″ |
30″ |
Let’s look at the top five most popular routes from PHX using the carrier 737 MAX 8; Cirium, an online aviation analytics company provided the data for operations in December 2024.
1
New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
102 flights
Source: GCMap
Leading the pack for American Airlines from Phoenix is its thrice daily connection to New York’s busiest airport, JFK. The link from Phoenix provides multiple daily flights in each direction with the Boeing 737 MAX 8, making the route appealing for business and leisure customers. With multiple daily frequencies, the flights are all timed perfectly to connect to the wider JFK network offered by AA, alongside other services with the carrier’s other aircraft.
This December, 17,544 seats are available for loyal AA travelers, which covers a distance of 2,153 miles. This represents 37,772,232 available seat miles for the month. For American, direct competitors on the route include:
The non-stop service takes around four hours and 45 minutes for the easterly bound service.
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2
Miami International Airport (MIA)
68 flights
Source: GCMap
Another AA hub is unsurprisingly in second place. American Airlines deploys its Boeing 737 MAX 8 to Miami twice daily, with extra flights during peak days of the week. Covering 1,972 miles as the crow flies, the outbound leg has 11,696 available seats for a total of 23,064,512 available seat miles (ASMs).
American Airlines holds the monopoly on the route to MIA, being the sole operator. However, there are several other direct services from PHX to the Sunshine State, including:
|
Airline |
Destinations in Florida |
|---|---|
|
American Airlines |
Miami, Orlando, Tampa |
|
Frontier Airlines |
Orlando (seasonal) |
|
Southwest Airlines |
Orlando, Tampa |
|
Spirit Airlines |
Fort Lauderdale (seasonal) |
In the cargo sphere, Amazon Air
also connects Phoenix to Florida, with freight services to Tampa International Airport (TPA). The flight time between Phoenix and Miami is around four hours and ten minutes.
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American Airlines’ Senior Vice President of Airport Operations, Reservations and Service Recovery, Julie Rath, said of the rollout:
“We’ve heard from our customers that the ability to board with their assigned group is important to them because it’s a benefit associated with their AAdvantage status or fare purchase. The initial positive response from customers and team members has exceeded our expectations, so we are thrilled to leverage this technology to deliver for them ahea
3
Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
34 flights
Source: GCMap
Taking off to the Midwest, American Airlines will maintain, at minimum, a daily service between Phoenix and Chicago’s busiest airport operated with the Oneworld alliance
carrier Boeing 737 MAX 8. The total distance covered is 1,440 miles, and the flight duration is three hours and 30 minutes.
Photo: Orlando International Airport
While American Airlines does operate other services daily with other aircraft, Cirium data identified 34 north-easterly (PHX-ORD) services will take off this December, representing 5,848 seats from the airline’s Arizona hub to the Windy City. This equates to 8,421,120 available seat miles. AA goes head-to-head on the route to Chicago alongside:
- Frontier
- Southwest
-
United Airlines
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4
San Diego International Airport (SAN)
31 flights
Source: GCMap
American Airlines’ daily 737 MAX 8 flight to San Diego is between Phoenix and Southern California. At just 304 miles, this route is the shortest in this analysis, taking one hour and 15 minutes from gate to gate. For December, 31 flights will operate with the Boeing variant, with the carrier offering 5,332 seats across the month.
Representing 1,620,928 available seat miles, AA operates the route with both the AA mainline and American Eagle
regional fleet, in competition with:
- Frontier Airlines
- Southwest Airlines
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5
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
29 flights
Source: GCMap
Taking off towards New York City, American Airlines utilizes its Boeing 737 MAX 8 on 29 flights between Phoenix and Newark Liberty International Airport
(EWR). Covering 2,133 miles, the flight takes approximately four hours and 40 minutes, and in December, AA will operate the flight 29 times with the aircraft variant.
With 4,988 seats on offer for the outbound service, AA’s total available seat miles is 10,639,404. United Airlines is the only competitor for the route.
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