American Airlines has temporarily suspended its checked pet service amid the COVID-19 crisis.
The change took effect March 25, according to an email from the airline to customers. Carry-on pets and emotional service animals are still allowed.
The decision was made “because schedule changes increase the risk of leaving a pet stranded,” according to the email.
In other changes, the company (NASDAQ: AAL) is:
- Relaxing its seating policy to enable customers to practice social distancing on board whenever possible.
- Temporarily suspending food and beverage service on flights under 2,200 miles (typically less than four-and-a-half hours). Limited beverages will be available upon request. On flights over 2,200 miles, the airline will continue to offer a streamlined food and beverage service.
More information on the changes is available here.
Because of decreased demand and changes to U.S. government travel restrictions, American announced on March 16 that it would make numerous changes to its flight schedules. The airline will:
- Reduce international capacity by 75 percent year-over-year, from March 16 to May 6.
- Continue to operate one flight daily from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to London (LHR), one flight daily from Miami (MIA) to LHR and three flights per week from DFW to Tokyo (NRT).
- Continue short-haul international flying, which includes flights to Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, Central America and certain markets in the northern part of South America, as scheduled.
The airline also said it anticipated that its domestic capacity in April would be reduced by 20 percent compared to last year and that May’s domestic capacity would be reduced by 30 percent year-over-year.