American Airlines’ shuttle lacks 1982 frills

American Airlines’ announcement that it would add shuttle service between New York and Chicago this spring seemed to hark to another era.

But the American shuttle is a “shuttle” in only the narrowest definition: It will adhere to a regular, frequent schedule.

But in the glory days of air shuttles, passengers could buy tickets onboard, and operators kept extra planes on standby so every person who showed up could be accommodated.

American acknowledged while its new shuttle service would translate to more daily round trips, some flights would use smaller planes, so overall capacity would not change.