For the moment, American Airlines is not growing in Charlotte, its second busiest hub. In fact, traffic declined in sixteen of the seventeen months ending in May.
But the numbers don’t measure an underlying buildup of the carrier’s Charlotte infrastructure, including more efficient operations, new technology, better customer ratings and planned airport construction that will of course benefit the airline that carries about 90% of airport traffic.
“We are making the necessary investment to make sure we have the infrastructure and sustainability for continued growth in Charlotte,” said Ralph Lopez Massas, senior vice president of Charlotte hub operations, in an interview. “Our ambition is to continue to grow Charlotte, to grow it sustainably, to enable that growth we need to see these infrastructure investments.”
Lopez Massas noted that American’s summer transatlantic schedule for Charlotte is the largest it as ever been, with eleven daily departures to nine destinations, including Barcelona for the first time since before the pandemic. London has three daily departures; Frankfurt, London, Madrid and Munich have year-round service. With later summer travel an increasing summer trend, Paris service continues until the end of October. All Charlotte transatlantic service uses Boeing 777 aircraft.
In 2025, American reduced daily Charlotte operations in an effort to enhance operational performance. The strategy was to improve efficiency during its nine daily banks — when thousands of passengers connect — by reconsidering aircraft types and seeking to relieve congestion in Concourses B and C, which can become heavily congested. So, the number of flights during each of the banks of flights diminished.
Peak daily American departures reached above 700 post pandemic. Now the total is about 670. By departures, Charlotte remains the third largest single airline hub in the world – which Lopez Massas notes is his favorite statistic. Only Delta in Atlanta and American in Dallas are larger, with about 1,000 and about 900 respectively. United, meanwhile, has 650 in Chicago and about 550 in Denver.
American’s departures and passenger totals have grown about 45% since 2016. “We have supercharged our growth since the pandemic,” Lopez Massas said. More recently, “We have rightsized and balanced our schedule to fit the infrastructure opportunities in Charlotte,” he said.
A result, he said, is that customer satisfaction has improved. In June and July, customer satisfaction scores more than doubled from the previous year and by 200% from 2024; July baggage handling performance improved by 30% and on-time arrival performance improved by about four points, reducing misconnections in a hub where 75% of passengers connect.
One reason is new technology, which has cost American tens of millions of dollars. Now, every one of the carrier’s 3,000 fleet service workers can see where every bag is. Also, “connection saving technology” enables dispatchers in American’s ground tower enables dispatchers to identify connecting passengers and to implement short holds if that will help them. The trek from American mainline B and C concourses to American regional E course is close to a mile.
As airport infrastructure grows, American is going to grow with it.
The airport is working on a fourth parallel runway scheduled to open in fall 2027. The $1 billion, 10,000-foot runway represents the final step in a $4 billion improvement project. Because it carries most CLT passengers, American pays most of the cost of bond-financed projects. In 2023, at the runway dedication, American Chief Operating Officer David Seymour said the increased runway capacity could enable American to one day approach 800 daily Charlotte departures.
The airport plans expansion of Concourse C, used by American, with 10 to 12 additional gates and underground tunnel to the airport’s centerpiece atrium. That project, which requires major reconfiguration of the airfield ramp near the concourse. could be completed in 2031.
Airport traffic reached a record 58.8 million in 2024, up 10% from 2023, reflecting American growth. In the first five months of 2026, the number of American seats from CLT was down 12% and the number of flights fell 7%, compared with the same period in 2024, The Charlotte Ledger reported this month after reviewing federal transportation statistics.
The number of seats American flew out of Charlotte fell in 16 out of the 17 months ending in May, compared with the same months in the previous year, The Ledger said, noting that American’s Chicago buildup requires aircraft that might otherwise be used in Charlotte.
American CEO Robert Isom acknowledged on an earnings call last fall that the carrier was taking “a little bit of a break in terms of growth” in Charlotte in order to “make sure that that operates efficiently and runs well.”
To the extent possible at a busy airport where every resource is constantly in use, leaving little margin for the vast impact of changes in the weather, not only in the Southeast but also in the Northeast, it seems that goal has been achieved.
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