WATERLOO REGION — American Airlines announced they will suspend service to Chicago from the region's local airport, citing the low Canadian dollar.

The twice-daily flights to Chicago O'Hare and the Region of Waterloo International Airport will end effective Oct. 5.

"There's nothing wrong with the service at the airport. ... The (passenger) load factor is really good and met their standards, but it didn't meet their profitability," said Coun. Tom Galloway.

The Region of Waterloo was informed of the change in service last Thursday, he said.

American Airlines launched its twice-daily non-stop service in 2012 and has taken over 170,000 passengers from Breslau to Chicago since then.

Galloway said paying for expenses in American dollars but making revenue in Canadian dollars hurt the airline's profit margins.

"Even though they were making money, it wasn't enough," he said.

The American airline's departure is no anomaly.

It has pulled service from 35 airports across the country, including Halifax, London and Montreal.

Galloway said it was purely a "business decision" and didn't have anything to do with the service Waterloo Region's airport provided.

Because of the sudden departure, the region will lose about $250,000 in revenue for the remainder of the year once the airline pulls out.

It makes money through landing fees and capital surcharges.

"We'll have to deal with that in the next budget cycle," Galloway said.

As for a replacement, he said it's too soon to tell, but the region is always trying to attract new jet services to the region's local airport in Breslau.

And American Airlines might return one day.

Galloway said it did not cancel its service, only suspended it, and said it is "reserving the hope that they might come back again."

"The route from Akron, Ohio, to Chicago, where this plane is now going, they can make more money on," he said.

Bearskin Airlines was the last service to ditch the local airport, cancelling flights to Ottawa in 2014.

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But a new budget charter airline recently moved into the local airport.

NextJet offers flights to Peterborough, Gatineau and Montreal and launched in the region last month.

- For American it's up, up - and away