Alaska & American Plan To Expand Partnership With Revenue Sharing Deal

Ben:
May want to edit this:
...which Alaska could feet into..." to change "feet" into "feed".

An AA/AS merger would be the only M/A that would actually benefit consumers.

So I expect it not to happen.

@Ben--I like your take that this is good for American, if it happens. I would like to see AS admitted to the oneworld joint ventures. AS is launching a bunch of new long haul flights at a time that is fraught for the entire airline industry. However, I would HATE to see AS and AA merge. AA has a terrible reputation for bad management and bad customer service. Even at that, though, they are so much larger than AS that a "merger" is more likely to be a buyout in which AS completely disappears. Particularly here in the Northwest, that would be horrible for consumers. Even as a frequent flyer with AS, I try to avoid flying AA entirely.

My favorite partnership; the current recip upgrades reminds me of the old Northwest / Continental days

…long haul presence in Seattle (SEA), which Alaska could feet* into?

For the consumer, AS + AA would be bad. AS ATmos is, at most, superior to aany thing that AAdvantage haas.

Atmos sucks, people just haven't figured that out yet. Mileage Plan was far better three years ago before the greedy new CEO began destroying it.

ATMOS is amazing, just not for flights on Alaska itself lol. It's pretty horrible if you live in Seattle but great if you live in an AA hub.

If they keep offering cheap AS award redemptions on AA metal, I’m pleased.

But, I presume, their further coordination would eventually lead to monopolistic behavior, and those deals would disappear.

For those in-the-know… the practice of offering artificially low prices to eliminate competition and “corner a market,” only to raise prices later, is known as “predatory pricing.”

Are you sure? Inherently, mergers, the consolidation of any market, tend not to benefit consumers, because less competition. Relatively silly things, like reciprocal lounge access, are not the substantive concern. It’s whether this creates a practical monopoly on certain markets, routes, etc.

Any indication the Qantas/AA Australia/NZ JV would also be in their sights? Given HA's existing reach into Australia and Qantas' previous interest in Seattle flights this could be interesting.

Agreed with Max. I rarely fly Alaska; I do however abuse Atmos for AA flights outta NYC. Bah!

You have to assume this revenue sharing attempt is a precursor to that. It was probably too difficult to figure out how to get Alaska into the JVs when you'd inevitably need to coordinate which passengers are better connecting in SEA vs ORD, DFW, etc. Not to mention how would AA and AS coordinate connecting fares at LAX with JV partners without coordinating revenue between themselves or else you'd basically have a JV roundtable of (for example) QF trying to talk to AA and AS at the same time but separately to coordinate connecting fares. A SYD/MEL-SEA would definitely seem to be on the cards quickly from AS or QF if they ever joined the QF Joint Venture since SEA has so many unique connections in the PNW and Western Canada that AA could never duplicate.

Sleep with a dog (AA). Wake up with fleas (AS).

@Will AA/AS merger would only benefit consumers if AS management runs the merged airline from SEA

Agree 100%! I’d be ok with the merger if AS management retains control, and Atmos becomes the new currency. Too bad that is a pipe dream 🙁

It's also just unrealistic for AS to operate long-haul flights from either SEA or HNL without being in the JVs given the pricing power, and of course both cities would still have meaningful competition via the DL and UA JVs, so it's easy to see why the government would be inclined to approve it.

Given that QF flies SYD-HNL already, it is inevitable that AS would join the AA/QF JV once these are done/approved. Whether QF or AS would fly SYD-SEA is TBD- I don't know how much premium leisure or business demand there is on either end.

alaska is really playing this merger/longhaul transformation thing expertly

There’s no way this will be good for the public.

How on earth will the unions buy off on this (and yes, they have a say). What concessions would be needed?

This is HORRIBLE news! I no longer am willing to fly on American Airlines after the past 4 years of HORRIBLE experiences. I absolutely love Alaska airlines and my last 2 flights with Alaska airlines were absolutely wonderful! If this happens, I am afraid that the foul practices in place at American, will infect Alaskan. Air travel is getting so much worse. We don't need bad businesses to ruin decent ones.

No they don’t have any say just so you know they literally have no say in how the operation are handled out all they only got a say in working conditions and pay you’re talking from someone that works in the industry

Are you sure? Inherently, mergers, the consolidation of any market, tend not to benefit consumers, because less competition. Relatively silly things, like reciprocal lounge access, are not the substantive concern. It’s whether this creates a practical monopoly on certain markets, routes, etc.

@Will AA/AS merger would only benefit consumers if AS management runs the merged airline from SEA

Agree 100%! I’d be ok with the merger if AS management retains control, and Atmos becomes the new currency. Too bad that is a pipe dream 🙁

It's also just unrealistic for AS to operate long-haul flights from either SEA or HNL without being in the JVs given the pricing power, and of course both cities would still have meaningful competition via the DL and UA JVs, so it's easy to see why the government would be inclined to approve it.

Atmos sucks, people just haven't figured that out yet. Mileage Plan was far better three years ago before the greedy new CEO began destroying it.

You have to assume this revenue sharing attempt is a precursor to that. It was probably too difficult to figure out how to get Alaska into the JVs when you'd inevitably need to coordinate which passengers are better connecting in SEA vs ORD, DFW, etc. Not to mention how would AA and AS coordinate connecting fares at LAX with JV partners without coordinating revenue between themselves or else you'd basically have a JV roundtable of (for example) QF trying to talk to AA and AS at the same time but separately to coordinate connecting fares. A SYD/MEL-SEA would definitely seem to be on the cards quickly from AS or QF if they ever joined the QF Joint Venture since SEA has so many unique connections in the PNW and Western Canada that AA could never duplicate.