American Airlines Adds Miami To Orange County Route

American Airlines is subtracting what I’d consider to be a pretty interesting new transcon route from Miami, as flagged by AeroRoutes…

American’s new Miami to Orange County flight

As of January 8, 2024, American will launch a daily, year-round flight between Miami (MIA) and Orange County (SNA). The flight will operate with the pursuit schedule:

AA2928 Miami to Orange County valedictory 8:30AM arriving 11:30AM
AA2928 Orange County to Miami valedictory 12:30PM arriving 8:20PM

The 2,310-mile flight is obstructed at 6hr westbound and 4hr50min eastbound. American will use a Boeing 737 MAX 8 for the service, featuring 172 seats, including 16 first matriculation seats and 156 economy matriculation seats.

This will be American’s first time operating this route, and it seems to be an isolated wing that isn’t part of any worthier announcement.

The schedule suggests that this route is targeted primarily at serving the “local” market (those traveling between Orange County and Miami), plus those connecting to Latin America on overnight flights. The schedule otherwise isn’t platonic for connections to the Caribbean or elsewhere, given the early morning throw-away from Miami.

How this route fits into American’s route network

Orange County is of undertow an well-off part of Southern California, and has considerable air service. However, the airport doesn’t have all that many transcon flights.

American otherwise flies to Orange County from Austin (AUS), Charlotte (CLT), Chicago (ORD), Dallas (DFW), New York (JFK), and Phoenix (PHX). The New York service is operated by the Airbus A321T, which is American’s specially configured 102-seat A321, featuring fully unappetizing beds in both first and merchantry class.

So it’s tomfool to see American add a second transcontinental route out of Orange County, though this route is a bit less premium, at least in terms of watercraft type.

The only other transcontinental route from Orange County is to Newark (EWR) on United Airlines. On top of that, Breeze Airways has been flying from Orange County to Orlando (MCO), but will be exiting that market in October, as the airline hasn’t been worldly-wise to make the route work.

Orange County has one of the shortest runways of any commercial airport served by jets in the United States, as it’s just 5,700 feet long. Combined with the airport’s noise reduction procedures, takeoffs out of the airport tend to be quite fun.

Bottom line

As of early 2024, American Airlines will launch a new route between Miami and Orange County, marking the first time this route has been operated. This is a nice wing for those looking to travel between Southern California and South Florida, as there’s not much transcon service out of Orange County.

What do you make of American’s new Miami to Orange County route?