American Airlines Adds 5 New Routes, Including Longest From LGA

American Airlines has announced plans to add five new routes to its itinerary, including what the company is calling its “longest” route from New York’s LaGuardia International Airport.

The Points Guy reported that three of the five new routes that the Fort Worth-based airline has proposed to introduce will originate from its hub at LGA. A carrier representative subsequently confirmed the changes initially seen in Cirium timetables.

In addition, American is altering its wide-body deployment plan, cutting one LaGuardia route, and making a number of other adjustments.

American will begin operating a once-weekly, Saturday-only route from LGA to Kalispell, Montana; Bozeman, Montana; and Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The new routes will all begin service on June 7 and run until Aug. 30.

On every route, American Airlines will use a Boeing 737 MAX 8, which has 132 regular economy seats, 24 main cabin extra economy seats, and 16 first-class recliners.

The flight from LaGuardia to Kalispell will be the longest from LGA, covering 2,035 miles. According to Cirium schedules, the longest LGA route at the moment is Delta’s 1,982-mile trip from LGA to Salt Lake City.

In keeping with the leisure concept, American plans to launch two additional Saturday-only routes in the upcoming summer.

The inaugural flight, from Chicago to Halifax, Nova Scotia, is scheduled to depart on June 21 and run until Oct. 4. The second will run from Aug. 9 to Nov. 1 from Dallas/Fort Worth to Quebec.

American Airlines Cracks Down on ‘Gate Lice’

Getting up early to catch an early flight, going through a lengthy and sometimes intrusive security screening process, the general crowds, noise, and hustle and bustle at the airport terminal, and finally the convoluted line to board as soon as the first call is made over the loudspeaker are just a few of the potential annoyances that come with traveling to the airport, whether you’re flying with American Airlines or another airline.

Those who try to board before their class or section is called may soon encounter a courteous rejection, at least when flying with American Airlines. These individuals are now commonly referred to as “gate lice.”

According to Forbes, software at the gate terminal would reject a traveler’s boarding permit with an “innocent audible alert” if they try to board before they are supposed to. The concerned tourist will then be directed by the American Airlines gate staff to wait until their boarding group is called to board. An override is available for exceptions to the rule.