Alaska, American Airlines Await Alliance Approval
In what would become American Airlines' most significant domestic codeshare relationship, the carrier and Alaska Airlines last month applied for a dramatic expansion of their current marketing relationship. An Alaska official last week anticipated no obstacles in obtaining government consent, as a 30-day U.S. Department of Transportation comment period drew to a close. The carriers plan to add the first wave of new codeshares early next month.
"In view of the Continental-Delta-Northwest alliance, this is much more modest and we expect it to be approved," the official said.
Under terms of the proposed deal, Alaska would place its code on 400 additional American flights—on top of the 600 flights on which it currently applies its code—while American for the first time would add its code to 450 flights operated by Alaska and sister carrier Horizon Air.
"American's first domestic codeshare opens up 30 new destinations for American's customers in the Pacific Northwest," said Henry Joyner, American senior vice president of planning. "In addition, we'll be able to compete more effectively against airlines that already have extensive codeshare networks in place." American also would share codes on some of Alaska's transcontinental operations.
New codeshare flights for Alaska would include American services around the country, including flights to the West Coast from AA's mid-continent hubs. The carriers, in emphasizing the complementary nature of the proposed arrangement, said only four nonstop city pairs would be served by both.
Alaska and American, which since 1999 have had reciprocal frequent flyer programs, also plan to co-locate certain airport facilities "wherever possible."
American in the past has entered small-scale codeshare agreements for its American Eagle regional operation. The Alaska deal would give it a major domestic partner in its battles against the United-US Airways partnership and the Continental-Delta-Northwest alliance.
Alaska, which is not affiliated with any of three primary global airline groupings, has been more promiscuous in its alliance development. For example, it also shares codes with AA competitors Continental and Northwest airlines.
The Northwest partnership, in particular, benefits corporate clients through a local market codeshare that for several years has enabled them to fly Alaska-operated flights while using discounts negotiated with Northwest.
Meanwhile, Northwest's new nonstop service between Portland and Tokyo, which launched last week, is timed to connect with flights offered by Northwest's partners, including Alaska and Horizon, which together claim 40 percent of the Portland market.