American Airlines Cancels Service To Long Island's MacArthur Airport

RONKONKOMA, NY — In a hit to Long Island's regional airport MacArthur Airport, American Airlines announced on Monday that they would cease service to the Islip airport. Islip Town officials and Long Island business leaders have been pushing for expanded flights from the airport in recent years, and the announcement means MacArthur will lose one of four airlines currently flying into the airport.

American Airlines said on Monday:

“In response to the regional pilot shortage affecting the airline industry, American Airlines has made the difficult decision to end service. We’re extremely grateful for the care and service our team members provided to our customers in Islip, Ithaca and Toledo, and are working closely with them during this time.”

American will cease service to MacArthur, along with Toledo and Ithaca, on September 7. Anyone with existing reservations will be contacted by the airline.

Nationally, high numbers of flights have been canceled in recent months, partially due to staffing shortages and a high travel demand.

MacArthur Airport has regional flights from Frontier, Southwest and newcomer Breeze Airways, which began connecting Long Island directly to new cities Charleston, SC and Norfolk, VA earlier this year.