American Airlines is launching its largest-ever football schedule this fall. The carrier announced it would add 185 new flights and 22,000 additional seats to its schedule to shuttle fans to some of the biggest games of the year.
The airline plans to operate larger aircraft to accommodate more seats from its hubs, such as Philadelphia (PHL) and Washington, D.C. (DCA). The first of the added flights kick off with the start of NFL season in mid-September. Additional routes mirror NFL match-ups, with departing and returning flights scheduled around game day.
Examples of city pairings include flights between D.C. and Green Bay, Wisconsin, for the Commanders vs. the Packers in September; San Francisco and New Orleans for the 49ers vs. the Saints in September; and Buffalo, New York, and Charlotte, North Carolina for the Bills vs. the Panthers in October.?
All told, American is adding capacity for 28 pro football games stretching through the first week of January 2026, plus even more extra flights throughout the fall for Green Bay Packers home games.
On the college football side, American is adding flights for more than 40 game-day matchups. Starting in late August and stretching well into November, the airline will begin operating flights between college towns like Birmingham, Alabama, to Waco, Texas; South Bend, Indiana, and Northwest Arkansas; Gainesville, Florida, and College Station, Texas, and many others.
The majority of the flights depart on Friday and return on Sunday, to accommodate the college Saturday game day schedule.
As the carrier is an official sponsor for Texas Athletics at the University of Texas, American is adding five new frequencies out of Austin this fall, so fans can catch the Longhorns playing in Columbus, Ohio; Gainesville, Florida; Lexington, Kentucky; and Atlanta.?
American says that with its combined pro and college football schedules, it will fly 128,000 miles between gridirons this fall, or the equivalent of 2 million football fields. See the carrier's full list of football flights on its website.
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