American Airlines to expand service from Los Angeles hub

AMR Corp's American Airlines on Wednesday said it plans to expand service from Los Angeles, one of its five major U.S. hubs, by adding flights to seven cities this summer.

American, which plans to merge with US Airways Group Inc and form the world's biggest carrier, said the new destinations from Los Angeles include Pittsburgh; Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis; and Hartford, Connecticut.

The carrier also said it plans to add service to nine new destination from Los Angeles overall this year. Service from Los Angeles to Sao Paulo is due to begin later this year pending U.S. government approval of American's application to add additional flights to Brazil from the United States.

In April, American began flying to Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina, from Los Angeles.

At Los Angeles International Airport, American is second in passenger market share with 16.3 percent, behind United Continental's 17.6 percent share, according to data for January 2013 through February 2013 provided on the facility's website.

Los Angeles is one of five key U.S. hubs that American, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2011, is counting on to drive growth. The others are Dallas/Fort Worth, New York, Miami and Chicago.