Summary The carrier's shortest service is between Chicago O'Hare and Milwaukee. While American Eagle's regional jets are vital in the 10 shortest markets, American's mainline equipment is also present. Historical data reveals even shorter routes operated previously.
American Airlines has the shortest overall stage length of the so-called US Big Three carriers, partly influenced by having the fewest long-haul services. Its typical flight covers just 720 nautical miles (1,333 km) . In contrast, Delta Air Lines is 826 nautical miles (1,530 km), and United Airlines is 921 nautical miles (1,706 km).
Regional units, which are vital for connectivity, are included in all three cases. American's 10 shortest routes I examined the one world member's 1,200+ routes between September and December 2024 using Cirium data to find the answer. The results are shown on the following map and table based on the Great Circle distance.
As always, the order may change based on real-world operations, and the results may differ at other times. Many other routes fell just short of inclusion. Obviously, American Eagle aircraft primarily operate very short routes.
This includes the shortest airport pair, Chicago O'Hare to Milwaukee, with O'Hare being the world's busiest airport for regional jets . However, American mainline equipment is deployed on three of the 10 links, all from Charlotte, the carrier's second-busiest hub. Want tickets for American's flights? Find them here! Would you like to be on them? Nautical miles (km) Route Comments about September-December 2024; aircraft stated in order of departures by unit 58 (108) Chicago O'Hare-Milwaukee Up to five daily; American Eagle CRJ200 65 (121) Charlotte-Greenville/Spartanburg Up to 11 daily*; American Eagle CRJ900, CRJ700, E175, ERJ145; American mainline A320, A319, 737-800 (one 737 departure on September 3); no mainline equipment in November/December 72 (134) Charlotte-Greensboro Up to 10 daily**; American Eagle CRJ900, ERJ145, CRJ700, E175; American mainline A319/A320; no mainline equipment in November/December 73 (135) Philadelphia-Harrisburg Up to five daily; American Eagle ERJ145 77 (142) Charlotte-Columbia Up to 10 daily; American Eagle ERJ145, CRJ900, CRJ700 78 (144) Dallas/Fort Worth-Waco Triple daily; American Eagle CRJ700, E170, E175 79 (147) Charlotte-Asheville Up to nine daily***; American Eagle CRJ900, E175, ERJ145, CRJ700; American mainline A319, A320; minimal mainline equipment in November and no flights in December 83 (154) Philadelphia-New York LaGuardia Up to six daily; American Eagle E175, E170 86 (160) Charlotte-Florence Up to triple daily; American Eagle ERJ145 89 (165) Dallas/Fort Worth-Tyler Triple daily; American Eagle CRJ700, E170 ** 85% of flights are on RJs; ** 92% of flights are on RJs; *** 89% of flights are on RJs How many of them can you name? But, there were shorter services.
.. Using Cirium data to explore schedules in the past 10 years shows that Philadelphia-Allentown , just 48 nautical miles (88 km) apart, was served by aircraft until May 1, 2020, amid the pandemic.
In the final few months, up to triple daily ERJ145 flights existed. Of course, the route was inherited from US Airways, which launched it in 2004. American still connects its Philadelphia hub with Allentown, just with much more cost-effective Landline buses .
Even shorter routes existed further back. American Eagle had ATR 72-operated San Juan-Vieques flights in 2005/2006 when San Juan was a hub. The same equipment, withdrawn 11 years ago, was also used on St Thomas-St Croix in 2005, while Antigua-Nevis saw the ATR 72 in 2004/2005.
The longest of these, Antingua-Nevis, covered just 46 nautical miles (86 km) each way..
