Between the imposition of tariffs and President Donald Trump repeatedly referring to a sovereign country as the “51st state,” tourism from Canada to the U.S. took a nosedive that has now lasted for more than a year.
Both in November and December 2025, the number of Canadians returning home from trips to the U.S. by plane was down by approximately 20%. Amid this lower demand, Canadian airlines are running 10% fewer seats on flights to the U.S. for the first quarter of 2026 compared to the first months of 2025.
Carriers such as Air Canada, WestJet, and Flair Airlines have all cut routes to smaller U.S. cities, to which they previously forecast high demand during the tourist season.
The exact numbers shown by flight log data tracked by OAG Aviation show a 19% capacity reduction by WestJet, a 58% decrease for Flair Airlines, and a 7% decrease for national flag carrier Air Canada.
American Airlines to launch new flights to Quebec City and Calgary
Even so, some airlines are taking a risk by betting on an eventual return, coupled with the growing number of liberal Americans choosing to spend their tourism dollars in Canada in protest of the Trump administration’s actions.
American Airlines in particular has bet big on this resurgence of U.S.-Canada travel. In September 2025, it signed a codeshare partnership with Toronto-based low-cost carrier Porter Airlines to connect travelers to more smaller Canadian cities to which it does not fly directly. These include Edmonton, Thunder Bay, Fort McMurray, and Moncton, among others.
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This week, the Dallas-based “big three” airline announced two new routes to Canada from JFK in New York that it plans to launch in the summer of 2026. Daily service to Jean Lesage International Airport (YQB) in Québec City is set to start on Aug. 5, and a thrice-weekly flight to Calgary International Airport (YYC) launches on Aug. 6.
The former will run on a 76-seat Embraer E175, while the Calgary flight is slated for the much larger 172-seat Boeing 737 MAX 8. The airline has not officially commented on the new flights but confirmed their launch to The Points Guy. Both will also operate year-round rather than as seasonal routes.
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Why is American Airlines setting its sights on Canada for 2026?
“Canada is one of the most popular destinations for travelers,” American’s Senior Vice President of Global Alliances Anmol Bhargava said in a statement on the Porter partnership last fall.
Known above all as the most “European” city in North America, Quebec City is a very popular tourist destination for many Americans on the East Coast during the summer months.
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As one of Canada’s larger cities, Canada is already served by several airlines flying from New York — Air Canada flies to it from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), and WestJet has already been running the exact route from JFK for years.
American has also recently launched new routes to YYC from Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) and New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) as part of a massive push into the Western Canadian city.
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