American Airlines announced it will no longer offer flights for travelers between Duluth International Airport and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, citing profitability concerns.

The last flight between Duluth and O'Hare will operate April 27.

"We're constantly evaluating our network to meet customer demand. Unfortunately, the Chicago-Duluth route wasn't profitable and didn't meet expectations," said American spokesman Brian Metham in a statement.

"We thank the team members who served our customers over the last year and will work closely with them during this transition."

The exit comes less than a year after the airline brought its business back to Duluth last May with two daily flights originating from Duluth and two from O'Hare. American notified both team members and the Duluth airport Wednesday about the decision to end service in the city of 85,000 residents.

American shares the skies in Duluth with two other major airlines: Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.

Delta will introduce its mainline aircraft at the Duluth airport beginning March 13, with planes that can hold more than twice the number of passengers as current aircraft, according to Natalie Peterson, director of communications at the Duluth airport.

Both Delta and United are performing well above expectations and have already surpassed the number of travelers in 2020 compared with the same time last year, Peterson said.

United offers three daily nonstop flights to Chicago and Delta offers five daily nonstop flights to Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Passengers travel on American's 50-seat ER4 aircraft operated by its regional travel subsidiary, American Eagle.

Henry Erlandson • 612-673-4789