Nonstop flights between the United States and Canada are quietly entering a new phase. Even as overall cross border demand has wobbled under economic and political headwinds, major carriers are selectively rebuilding and redirecting capacity. United Airlines, Air Canada, and WestJet have already been recalibrating their networks, and now American Airlines and Delta Air Lines are joining the push with targeted nonstop routes that give U.S. travelers more ways to reach Canadian cities without a connection. For leisure travelers, business flyers, and frequent cross border visitors, these changes will directly shape how fast, easy, and affordable it is to move between the two countries over the next two to three years.
A New Cross Border Landscape After a Turbulent Period
The latest wave of new and proposed nonstop routes sits against a backdrop of volatility in U.S. Canada travel. In 2025, aviation data showed a sharp drop in bookings between the two countries, with some reports noting declines of more than 70 percent in forward reservations during the height of a tariff dispute. Airlines responded with a familiar playbook: trimming frequencies, shelving some launch plans, and leaning harder on their core hubs while they waited for demand to stabilize.
WestJet, for example, pulled back on several proposed U.S. services, including a planned nonstop Calgary to New York LaGuardia flight, and scaled back routes such as Edmonton to Orlando. United, for its part, canceled a planned nonstop between Los Angeles and Toronto and reduced frequencies on some Washington Dulles services to Canadian cities. Air Canada also pared certain U.S. routes from Vancouver, including to major hubs like Washington Dulles, Houston, and Miami, cutting weekly flights during peak summer while keeping daily service on shoulder season dates.
Those retrenchments were not an abandonment of the market so much as a reset. Carriers shifted from broad expansion to a more surgical strategy designed to protect profitability while preserving critical cross border connectivity. Now, as forward demand indicators begin to stabilize and airlines gain clarity on where traffic is most resilient, American and Delta are stepping forward to join United, Air Canada, and WestJet with a more deliberately curated set of nonstops.
American Airlines: Incremental Moves That Matter for Connections
American Airlines has not unveiled a single headline grabbing U.S. Canada corridor on the scale of a new transatlantic hub, but its network moves still matter for cross border travelers. American relies heavily on its strategic partnership with Canadian carriers and on key U.S. hubs, rather than spreading its own metal thinly across secondary routes. For U.S. based travelers flying to Canada, this translates into more consistent banked connections through major American hubs that feed into partner flights north of the border.
One of the most important levers in American’s toolkit is coordination with oneworld and other partners serving Canadian gateways such as Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Calgary. By increasing capacity from U.S. interior cities to its own hubs and timing those flights to connect smoothly with partner services to Canada, American can effectively offer more one stop options that feel almost as seamless as a nonstop, especially when itineraries are sold on a single ticket with through checked bags and aligned frequent flyer benefits.
American’s long haul strategy also indirectly shapes the cross border experience. Its investment in more efficient aircraft and upgraded cabins on transcontinental and international routes makes the U.S. side of many Canada bound trips more comfortable and predictable. When those long haul flights are paired with partner operated segments into Canada, passengers benefit from a smoother overall journey, even if American’s own tailfin is not always the one crossing the border.
Delta Air Lines: Leveraging Hubs and Alliances for Canada Access
Delta’s current route announcements have focused largely on U.S. domestic and transpacific growth, including new service from Washington National to Seattle and expanded Asia links via its Seattle hub. While that particular new route does not cross into Canada, it is emblematic of Delta’s broader network design: build powerful hubs in key coastal cities, then use partners to fill out cross border and regional connectivity.
For Canada, the most important piece of that puzzle is Delta’s joint venture and close partnership with WestJet. Together, the two carriers coordinate schedules and codeshares on a large portfolio of U.S. Canada routes. That means when Delta adds frequencies or new spokes into hubs like Seattle, Minneapolis, Detroit, New York, or Los Angeles, it is often doing so with an eye toward feeding WestJet operations in Canadian cities such as Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto, and Halifax.
In practical terms, travelers may see Delta’s name on more itineraries that include Canadian segments even if the physical aircraft operating a specific leg belongs to WestJet. Checking in once, earning miles on one frequent flyer account, and accessing reciprocal lounge or priority services all contribute to a travel experience that feels unified. Delta’s ongoing fleet modernization and rollout of features like high speed Wi Fi and refreshed cabins also benefit connecting passengers heading to or from Canada, particularly when they are linking through U.S. hubs onto WestJet flights.
United, Air Canada, and WestJet: Calibrating Growth Rather Than Chasing Volume
United Airlines and Air Canada anchor the largest transborder joint venture between the two countries, giving them a dominant role in shaping nonstop options from many U.S. cities to Canadian gateways. Even while they have pulled back selectively on weaker performing routes, both carriers are still expanding where demand and connectivity justify the capacity. Air Canada’s latest summer schedule for 2025 includes new U.S. routes such as Vancouver to Nashville and Montreal to Cincinnati, as well as the resumption of Toronto to Jacksonville, repositioning Canadian hubs as convenient stepping stones for U.S. bound traffic and vice versa.
Those new routes are not random; they are designed to plug gaps in the joint network. A traveler from a smaller Canadian city can connect through Montreal or Vancouver to reach a growing list of U.S. secondary markets without backtracking through the largest U.S. hubs. From the American side, travelers gain additional entry points into Canada that connect onward to Europe and Asia on Air Canada, especially where preclearance simplifies the return trip to the United States.
WestJet, meanwhile, continues to lean into its role as a leisure focused carrier with a strong base in Western Canada. Its expansion into new U.S. markets like Anchorage, Raleigh, and Salt Lake City demonstrates a willingness to try creative combinations, while its cancellations and capacity cuts on other U.S. routes underscore a disciplined approach. The end result is a Canada U.S. network that is smaller than it might have been in a boom scenario, but one that is better aligned with real booking behavior and less prone to abrupt, mid season changes.
New Nonstops, New Gateways: How Options Are Shifting on the Map
For travelers, the most visible manifestation of this evolving strategy is the reshaping of gateway cities. Air Canada is steadily positioning Montreal and Vancouver as more prominent transborder hubs. New flights from Vancouver to Nashville and from Montreal to Cincinnati help link Canada not only to major coastal metropolises, but also to mid sized U.S. regions with growing tourism, tech, health care, and music economies. The revival of nonstop service from Toronto to Jacksonville, the only nonstop link between Canada and that Florida city, also reinforces Toronto’s role as a primary bridge between Canadian travelers and U.S. Sun Belt destinations.
WestJet’s U.S. additions, including services from Calgary to Anchorage and Raleigh, and from Vancouver to Boston and Tampa, draw fresh lines on the map that had not previously existed for Canadian travelers. Anchorage, Raleigh, and Salt Lake City are entirely new destinations for WestJet, offering Canadians easier access to Alaska, the Research Triangle, and Utah’s national parks and ski resorts. On the flip side, residents of those American regions can now reach Canadian cities and, via connections, transatlantic or Hawaiian destinations with fewer stops.
United’s decision to cancel a planned Los Angeles to Toronto nonstop while reinforcing services on other cross border routes shows how quickly the network can evolve as airlines test and refine their assumptions. In some cases, partnerships fill the gaps. A traveler in Southern California might connect via Denver, Chicago, or San Francisco on United, or use another carrier’s nonstop to Toronto and then switch to Star Alliance partners. What is constant is the priority on keeping key flows intact even as individual city pairs come and go.
What the Changes Mean for Fares, Flexibility, and Frequent Flyers
One immediate impact of additional nonstop routes is competitive pressure on fares, especially on city pairs that previously had only one or two viable one stop options. When a Canadian airline launches nonstop service from a new U.S. city, or when an American carrier enhances its partnership feeds into Canada, local passengers often see more fare buckets and promotional pricing as airlines try to stimulate awareness and early demand.
At the same time, the selective nature of this expansion means travelers should not expect a return to pre disruption capacity levels on every route. Some thinner markets that lost nonstop service may remain dependent on connections indefinitely, which can keep fares higher during peak periods. For frequent flyers, though, the growing web of alliances, joint ventures, and codeshares across American, Delta, United, Air Canada, and WestJet creates more opportunities to earn and redeem miles on cross border trips, even when a preferred carrier does not operate every leg directly.
Another critical benefit is schedule flexibility. Extra daily frequencies on routes like Toronto to major U.S. business centers, or new mid day departures timed for cruise departures and sports events, give travelers more choice in how they structure a weekend break or a quick client visit. For those connecting onward to Europe or Asia, the ability to choose earlier or later flights into Canadian hubs can make the difference between a tight, stressful connection and a relaxed transfer with time for airport amenities.
Practical Tips for Planning Your Next U.S.–Canada Trip
If you are planning a trip between the United States and Canada over the next 12 to 24 months, the smartest strategy is to treat the network as a work in progress and build in extra flexibility. Schedule changes are common whenever airlines are fine tuning their route maps, so booking slightly earlier flights, avoiding very tight layovers, and opting for single ticket itineraries on alliance partners can help protect you from disruptions if a frequency is adjusted or a route is re timed.
Comparing multiple gateway options is more important than ever. Instead of searching only for flights from your home airport to one Canadian city, experiment with different Canadian entry points such as Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, or Halifax and see how connections into your final destination look. With new routes like Vancouver to Nashville and Montreal to Cincinnati entering the mix, the best itinerary for your dates might route through a city you had not previously considered.
Pay attention as well to which airline actually operates each segment. If you hold elite status or a co branded credit card with American, Delta, or United, you may find that a mixed itinerary with Air Canada or WestJet still delivers many of your usual perks, from priority boarding to free checked bags. On the other hand, if a key segment is operated by a partner that offers fewer reciprocal benefits, you may prefer an alternative routing that keeps you on your primary carrier, even if it adds a short connection.
Looking Ahead: A More Targeted but More Useful Network
The emerging picture of U.S.–Canada air service is one of disciplined growth rather than exuberant expansion. American Airlines and Delta are not flooding the market with new branded nonstops to every Canadian city; instead, they are using their hubs and alliances to plug into existing Canadian networks more intelligently. United, Air Canada, and WestJet are adding and subtracting routes with a clear eye on profitability and long term sustainability, even as they invest in new gateways and aircraft that can open fresh possibilities when demand supports it.
For travelers, this may feel less dramatic than the pre pandemic era of sudden route launches and promotional fanfare. Yet the end result is likely to be a network that does a better job of matching real travel patterns: more nonstops on city pairs that support them, better timed one stop connections where demand is strong but not huge, and fewer speculative routes that disappear mid season. As American, Delta, United, Air Canada, and WestJet continue this careful balancing act, the practical effect for you is a wider range of viable options when planning everything from a weekend hockey run to Toronto to a summer cruise from Vancouver or a business swing through Montreal.
If you are willing to be a bit flexible with dates, gateways, and carriers, the new cross border landscape can work to your advantage. Keep an eye on announcements from all five airlines, revisit your usual booking habits, and you may find that the next generation of nonstop and one stop options between the United States and Canada makes your travels smoother, faster, and in many cases, surprisingly more affordable.