American Airlines adds New York-Charleston flights but cuts Philadelphia

Among the airports serving the New York City area, New York LaGuardia Airport also gets substantial traffic from all major airlines in the country.

Along with three other airports serving the city – JFK, Newark, and Stewart – LaGuardia is also projected to see a record number of passengers this year.

Several airlines have made tweaks to their schedules out of LaGuardia, and American Airlines, too, has made some changes in 2025.

New flights to Charleston

American Airlines is expanding its network out of New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA) with flights to Charleston International Airport (CHS) in South Carolina.

The airline will start flying between the two airports on June 6 using its Embraer E170 and E175 airplanes, which are operated by Republic Airlines for its regional subsidiary American Eagle.

These changes to its network are based on data from Cirium, the aviation analytics company. The carrier will operate a one-way flight between New York LaGuardia and Charleston on Friday and a one-way flight between Charleston and New York LaGuardia on Sunday.

It will offer a return service between the two airports on Saturday, according to the following schedule as noted from the airline’s official website:

New York LaGuardia to Charleston

Friday:

Departure: 19:00

Arrival: 21:17

Saturday

Departure: 16:07

Arrival: 18:24

Charleston to New York LaGuardia

Saturday

Departure: 10:15

Arrival: 12:15

Sunday

Departure: 09:12

Arrival: 11:12

American will face competition from Delta Air Lines, which has a much larger network between LaGuardia and Charleston.

In June, the carrier had more than 250 return flights between the two airports, using a mix of equipment such as the Embraer E170 and E175 of Republic Airline, Bombardier CRJ900 of Endeavor Air, and Airbus A220 of its mainline fleet.

Philadelphia removed

American Airlines will, however, remove its scheduled service between New York LaGuardia Airport and Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) in June.

The airline deploys Embraer aircraft of Republic Airlines between the two airports, and in May, it has nearly daily flights on this route. However, it will discontinue this service on June 4.

JetBlue is another airline that recently announced a reduction in services from LaGuardia Airport and will end its flight to Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) on April 9 .

American Airlines has a huge network out of LaGuardia Airport. In February alone, it has more than 3,500 flights out of LGA to destinations ranging from Miami, Chicago, Tampa, Little Rock, and Tulsa to Saint Louis and Toronto, among many others.

Last year, it was reported that the carrier was adding three more routes out of LaGuardia in 2025 . The airport will see the following new American Airlines flights from June 7 to August 30, 2025:

• Bozeman, Montana (BZN)
• Calgary, Alberta (YYC)
• Kalispell, Montana (FCA)

New York City airports prepare for a busy year

According to estimates by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, all major airports serving the New York City Area – John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), LaGuardia Airport (LGA), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), and Stewart International Airport (SWF) – will likely welcome 150 million passengers in 2025.

The 2024 numbers of these airports are not yet known, but in 2023, they welcomed 144.1 million travelers, an increase of 12.4% year-on-year (YoY). Out of these, 95.1 million were domestic (up 7.6% YoY), while another 49 million were international (up 23.2% YoY).

The authority also expects to earn an additional $247 million in revenue compared to 2024 and will grow its spending budget for aviation-related activities by around $488 million.

LaGuardia Airport, in particular, has really improved its performance in the last few years. It once struggled with outdated facilities but has had a resurgence in recent times.

This includes a substantial $8 billion investment in its modernization to build several facilities, including the new Terminal B and upgraded runways and taxiways, which have reduced delays and improved overall efficiency. Simple Flying has analyzed this in detail in the article below.