Airspace Was Closed, Leaving Holiday Travelers Stuck.
MIAMI, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2025 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — President Donald Trump’s invasion of Venezuela created a huge problem for airlines as holiday travelers tried to get back to the United States after the holiday break. The federal government closed airspace over the eastern Carribbean, causing cancellations and diversions as many argue that the President attempted to divert attention from the Epstein files. Now, the airspace has reopened and American Airlines early Sunday announced a number of additional flights to help people get where they expected to be before the unprovoked invasion. Here is the official announcement from American Airlines:
>>Now that the Eastern Caribbean airspace has reopened, it’s all hands on deck at American to take care of the airline’s customers and help as many get to and from the region as possible. In addition to the flexibility provided by the airline’s travel alert and the fare caps in place, American has so far added nearly 5,000 additional seats to and from the region on top of resuming scheduled service Sunday, Jan. 4. This includes adding a number of extra flights and, where possible, deploying larger aircraft — including a Boeing 777-300, the largest aircraft in American’s fleet — to add as much lift as possible to support as many customers as possible. That work will continue as the American team does everything it can to help customers affected by the FAA-mandated airspace closure.
American is grateful to its team members for their swift work to support the airline’s customers and to its federal partners for the coordination and communication throughout the closure.
Additional flying for Jan. 4
The following extra flights have so far been added:
Antigua, Antigua (ANU)
- AA9621 (MIA-ANU)
- AA9622 (ANU-MIA)
Aruba, Netherland Antilles (AUA)
- AA9605 (CLT-AUA)
- AA9607 (AUA-CLT)
- AA9616 (AUA-MIA)
- AA9618 (MIA-AUA)
Bridgetown, Barbados (BGI)
- AA9615 (BGI-MIA)
Curacao, Netherland Antilles (CUR)
- AA9617 (ORD-CUR)
- AA9619 (CUR-ORD)
Melville Hall, Dominica (DOM)
- AA9630 (MIA-DOM)
- AA9631 (DOM-MIA)
San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU)
- AA9603 (CLT-SJU)
- AA9604 (SJU-CLT)
- AA9609 (MIA-SJU)
- AA9610 (SJU-MIA)
St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (STT)
- AA9608 (MIA-STT)
- AA9608 (STT-MIA)
St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands (STX)
- AA1485 (ORD-STX)
- AA2205 (STX-ORD)
St. Maarten, Netherland Antilles (SXM)
- AA9611 (MIA-SXM)
- AA9612 (SXM-MIA)
St. Lucia, St. Lucia (UVF)
- AA9623 (CLT-UVF)
- AA9624 (UVF-CLT)
More flying on Jan. 5 with a Boeing 777-300
San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU)
- AA9604 (MIA-SJU)
- AA9605 (SJU-MIA)
- AA9606 (MIA-SJU)
- AA9613 (SJU-MIA) <<
I was to fly 1/3 to Barbados. Our flight was delayed three times with gate changes that were long distances from one another. Keep in mind, AA was informed by FAA in the early hours of Saturday, the air space was closed for trump’s perhaps illegal bombardment of Venezuela.
I tried to reach Boca News Now late Saturday to come and see the absolute chaos in the baggage claim area. Two and a half hour lines to check at the luggage counter desk to be told it could be 6-8 or more hours until any luggage would come out only to find out at at 9:30 pm, luggage from Barbados flight was to remain on “the ramp” and not come out until the earliest perhaps Sunday or Monday without explanation. I, along with hundreds of others, were now at the airport for 15 or more hours. I finally left for home at 10:15pm without luggage. I couldn’t believe that your paper was singing the praises of AA when you didn’t know the full story. The buck stops at CEO Robert Isom. Inexcusable treatment of customers.
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