American sets new record with longest-ever regional jet route between Dallas/Fort Worth and Québec City

The average stage length for an American Eagle RJ flight since 2000 has been about 401 nautical miles (743 km). Despite the introduction of larger and more efficient RJs in recent years, this average has remained relatively steady; in August 2025 it is reported at approximately 408 nautical miles (756 km).

While Dallas/Fort Worth to Québec City is now the longest RJ route by distance for American Eagle at 1,438 nautical miles (2,663 km), another route—St Louis to Los Angeles—has a longer block time at up to four hours and twenty-three minutes.

Some previously long RJ routes have since been discontinued or upgraded to larger mainline aircraft due to economic reasons such as lower seat-mile costs and increased revenue opportunities associated with higher-capacity planes.

American Airlines’ presence in Québec City dates back to October 2015 when it began service from Philadelphia—a route inherited from US Airways. Since then it has added connections from Chicago O’Hare in June 2019 and Charlotte in August 2024 before introducing the Dallas/Fort Worth link this year. In August there are four to five daily departures from Québec City on various regional jets operated by different partners: Charlotte (PSA CRJ900), Chicago (Republic E175), Dallas (Envoy Air E175), and Philadelphia (Piedmont ERJ145/Republic E175).

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport remains American Eagle’s largest hub for regional jet operations with Cirium data indicating an average of 681 daily RJ movements in August. Regional jets account for four out of every ten flights at DFW—the busiest hub overall for American Airlines. In total there are RJs operating on nearly one-third of all DFW routes during peak summer months.

The role of regional jets continues to be significant for network expansion and frequency increases across key markets served by American Airlines.