When announcing new service to Puerto Escondido on the Oaxacan Coast in the spring of 2025, American Airlines boasted of flying to more destinations in Mexico than any other U.S. carrier.
Drawing in approximately 40 million tourists on a given year, the southern neighbor of the United States is by far the world’s most-visited country for Americans due to both proximity for business and family ties and the popularity of it as a warm-weather holiday destination.
While American Airlines flies to 30 cities in the country as of August 2026, not every one of its Mexican routes in its network has been bringing in the necessary traffic to be profitable for the airline. The latest flight data for the rest of the year shows that it will permanently retire its route between Phoenix and the northern Mexican city of Monterrey by December 2026.
American Airlines to cut flight between Phoenix and Monterrey by December 2026
Running on 76-seat Embraer E175 aircraft for the last three years, the flight between Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) to General Mariano Escobedo International Airport (MTY) in Monterrey was launched in Jan. 2023 to tap into the business and family links that many people in southern Arizona have with northern Mexico.
The flight ran daily and took just under two hours and 35 minutes.
But according to load numbers first reported by Simple Flying, the route in which American once saw great potential was flying with an average passenger load hovering at 60% since the start of 2026.
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With airlines generally aiming to keep the passenger load at no less than 80%, the Phoenix-Monterrey route was an obvious choice for cuts given the particularly salient new need to cut any underperforming flights due to the spike in jet fuel prices from the war in Iran.
While flight data showed that American had previously planned to increase the route to run more than once a day on certain days of the week during the busy winter period past November, no new scheduled flights are now on the docket for American Airlines after Dec. 1.
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American Airlines is flying to these Mexican cities for winter 2026-2027
American Airlines continues to serve Monterrey from its hub at Dallas-Fort Worth while daily flights from Phoenix into the 2026-2027 winter period include popular Mexican tourist destinations such as Cancun, Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta and San José Del Cabo.
The airline is also running daily direct flights to Guadalajara in the west-central part of the country from Phoenix.
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But when it comes to Phoenix-Monterrey, no other airline currently runs a direct route which means that travelers between these two cities will lose their nonstop connection.
American Airlines could not be immediately reached for comment on the route cut. According to the airline’s refund policy, those who booked travel on a flight canceled by the airline as part of network decisions are entitled to a full refund to the original method of payment regardless of fare class.
