American Airlines & IndiGo Launch India Partnership

This doesn't make sense on the surface because IndiGo is a low cost carrier but then when you look at the alternatives they don't really have any other options, added to this is the face that Qatar Airways (another OW player and a significant AA shareholder) and IndiGo have a codeshare agreement too.

If AA’s goal is to fill seats and generate profit that way, then this partnership makes sense. Much of the passenger traffic within and to India is price-sensitive, especially from diaspora communities, so IndiGo is a natural pairing.

I’m curious to see whether AA approaches WizzAir to plug the gaping hole in continental Europe, or whether they a more traditional airline (Air Serbia, e.g.).

Vistara is also partnered up with BA. But doesn’t have the schedule that IndiGo has. The reality is most consumers are price sensitive. And business travel is lagging. If AA can compete on schedule and price, then they have a fighting chance in India. And really that’s what I want to see. More available seats is always good for the consumer. If AA wants to add lounge access, I’m sure there are third party lounges they can partner with.

I flew Indigo a few years back and was pleasantly surprised. I would way rather fly them for India domestic flight than any other Indian airline (except Vistara). Yes you're in coach, but it's also probably not a very long flight.

AA better take whatever it can get, and IndiGo is as good an option as any because of its expansive network. IndiGo also had a similar codeshare arrangement with Qatar Airways before the pandemic. Sometimes it is more important to have a connecting flight at the right time to your final destination than premium lounge access and business class. The revived Jet Airways sure as hell won’t partner with AA, but may look to restart its DL/AF/KL partnership.

So I guess they havent announced if award seats could be booked through AAdvantage for domestic flights on Indigo? Would be useful otherwise if trying to get to a city in India after connecting from an airline like Qatar in Delhi or Mumbai then going onwards on a domestic flight on the same award ticket.

IndiGo is as good as it gets for intra-Indian travel. Air India and SpiceJet are notoriously unreliable. Vistara is nice but has an extremely limited route network. IndiGo has a vast route network and friendly crew. It's cheap, reliable, and still relatively comfortable for what is probably at most a 2 hour flight. For me, the most important thing is knowing that my domestic Indian flight will land on time so that I'll make my international connection. I would only trust IndiGo in that regard. I'm excited to see this partnership, and I hope other oneworld airlines will join suit. Even better, I'd love to see IndiGo join oneworld as a full member or a Connect member.

Air India is an awful airline and likely no one's first choice. It doesn't really add anything to Star Alliance, other than connectivity. AA is making a good decision here as it rebuilds its presence in India. It doesn't have a lot of choice and IndiGo is as good a choice as any, even if it is an LCC. Lots of UAL DNA at IndiGo, but that's beside the point. It is a smart move for AA.

For domestic India flying IndiGo is perfectly acceptable.

Even though IndiGo has no business class, they allow you to buy a double or triple seat, which if you pay for makes the flight quite comfortable

IndiGo may be technically a low-cost carrier, but the flying experience on them is really good. I've flown with them a number of times within India, and the places are clean, the crews friendly, the look of the BOB menus, uniforms, seats, etc. modern.

It is definitely more of a JetBlue kind of LCC than a Spirit. I think Ben sometimes reads LCC and thinks it's a cheap, ratty option. IndiGo is probably the best partner for any international airline looking for connectivity in India.

(Sidebar: aside from the limited connectivity outside of Brasil, the same is true of GOL vs. LATAM in Brasil. LATAM has not business class on short-haul SA routes, and structures its fares like a LCC on those routes. GOL is an identical, and often more pleasant, experience).

Might make the BLR and DEL flights slightly more useful and fill the back of the plane.

I like this alliance. TBH, I think Delta missed out as they do not have another capable airline left to feed their JFK-BOM flight (if they restart it). Considering most intra-India flights are short ~2 hrs, I don’t think lack of business class on Indigo is a deal. Indigo’s large network can comfortably feed the two AA flights.

When it comes to LCC, I’d fly Indigo over Spirit/Frontier/Allegiant everytime.

Not to beat a dead horse, but IndiGo is a better LCC option than you might think. It runs on-time, the crews are good, and with the max flight length on a domestic Indian route around 2 hours, it's not like space is hugely important. I've flown them several times over the years, and it's always been a pleasant experience. Not a bad way for AA to get some connectivity into secondary Indian markets.

If you can pick the exit row seats without charge, then you are already one better than intra-european business class.

IndiGo is not a downgrade for AA pax. It's the other way round: AA is the real downgrade after coming off an IndiGo flight!

@ John -- I'm by no means an American Airlines cheerleader, but how is an American business class seat a downgrade from IndiGo's 30" seat pitch?

I have flown Indigo, Air India hundreds of times over the past few years. While Air India can be unreliable, flying AI as a United 1K gives me standard Star Gold privileges like access to great lounges (atleast in Mumbai), extra baggage, first class ticketing queue, occasional upgrades etc. Air India aircraft generally have a pretty generous seat pitch, meals, tea/coffee and boarding is via jet bridges (generally).

Indigo is operationally more reliable but it's a cattle car: tight seat pitch, non-premium airports, no lounge access, no meals/tea/coffee/soda, boarding via tarmac stairs.

I tolerated AI's operational unreliability for years for an arguably better experience.

IndiGo has some of the best service for a low-cost carrier. Courteous, friendly flight attendants, decent buy-on-board offerings and not overcharging for every little extra thing: these are some things that you would be hard-pressed to find on Spirit or sometimes even on American. IndiGo is more like Southwest in that regard, as the employees clearly love the company and are proud of it.

IndiGo is more Southwest than JetBlue, I’d say. JetBlue offers IFE and Wi-Fi on all aircraft, while IndiGo does not. JetBlue has a proper business class product on transcontinental and transatlantic routes. Where IndiGo excels is providing fast, efficient, courteous and award-winning service. Then again, Indan airlines have always excelled in having polite FAs.

Isn't an airline's main business to provide transportation? In reading some comments on travel blogs, one could surmise that it's to provide entertainment and food.

My domestic air travel experience in India has always been favorable, especially compared to domestic air travel in the US (which is where I am based). Indian airlines may not have kept up with competition on international travel, but their domestic airlines are a mark above what is offered within the US and Europe on comparable distances (in my opinion). I have flown aboard all of the carriers and prefer to fly Vistara, IndiGo or Air India. I don't prefer Spice Jet, Air Asia, and GoAir. While Vistara and Air India offer some frills, I don't miss them when on board IndiGo, especially since air travels rarely exceed three hours in India. All in all, IndiGo is a fantastic airline and I am pleased to see them as a preferred partner with a major global airline (even if that global airline is AA).

Hello, Ben. My rationale is simple and tightly focused. Being treated like a human being on IndiGo is reason enough to regard it as superior to AA. ~ Safe travels, always.

Disappointing. Was hoping we'd see a Vistara partnership in the future since that's basically India's only decent carrier.

I've personally always found Indigo better than Air India. Sure you get a small meal and drink on AI, but that doesn't make up for them almost always running late, not to mention their surly cabin crew.
Have taken 10ish Indigo flights and have left on time or early with nearly all of them.

What sets airlines apart is mostly the on-board amenities. It shouldn't come as a surprise to you that people on a blog for frequent flyers are interested in enjoying their flights, not just getting from point A to point B.

Not sure for the basis of your evaluation but Indigo consistently ranks above Vistara in customer feedback. Anyways, most Indian domestic airlines are a mark above domestic air services in Europe and North America.

I somewhat agree with you. As a frequent flyer and one who loves flying, I have never eaten on board. I consider food served on airlines to be at best subpar. I enjoy a lavish meal before my flight and use the flight to rest. I don't think I have ever browsed through content on an airline IFE either. I fly for work and for the joy of being in the air. If I wanted a good meal, I would go to a reputed restaurant.

However, that's my preference since my main criteria for a good airline is cleanliness, seat/bed comfort and personalized service; in my case, make the bed and leave me alone until I request service.

I also value the perks afforded by AI for *Alliance Gold members. Frankly, I have not experienced any dissatisfaction flying on AI in recent years - maybe just my luck.

On basis of what? The two market is hugely different and besides if judging by my ground experience and the dozen or so flights I had taken in my time in india, I can very much say, american carriers provide a far better experience. Not to mention the boarding group issue, there is never one in india, people just brute force there boarding. Even on a UA flight from india, you don’t get a boarding group.

Though I will agree Indigo is probably one of the best LCC in the world, much better then any in US

They don’t really have a gaping hole in Europe. There is the whole IAG (Iberia, BA and the LCCs) which already has an extensive network around western and Southern Europe, alongside Finnair, which also covers a lot of destinations in eastern and Northern Europe.

I'm not sure that it is accurate that AA has not pursued partnerships globally but India as a whole doesn't fit in the alliances. Even though Air India is in Star Alliance, there is no joint venture and AI's relatively small US network duplicates much of what UA flies so there is little benefit. Indian airlines are basically the "domestic completion" portion for US-India itineraries.
The biggest economic challenge for AA in India is that Russian airspace is essentially closed to western carriers which means AA has to use their 777-300ER, the most fuel inefficient aircraft in the US carrier fleet due both to the low number of seats on the aircraft and the high fuel consumption of the model, in order to have any hope of flying the route without fuel stops. UA at least has the high gross weight 787-9s which AA is waiting for but both are paying much more for fuel than DL- which doesn't fly to India right now - or AS or WN.
The US carriers need to do all they can to keep the Middle East carriers from regaining large portions of the US-India market; Emirates doesn't need a partner in India given the size of their pre-covid India network but it will take years to economically rebuild their network.
Also, AA and UA have largely focused on Delhi while DL, when it served India, focused on southern India, primarily Mumbai.
AA and UA are for-profit companies and the cost of avoiding Russian airspace on top of high fuel prices will erode the profitability of their India routes. As the global economy slides into a recession and staflation - more when than if - many "status routes" will get pulled.
Also, since it was mentioned, Latam's reorganization plan was just approved by the US bankruptcy court so AA's strategic focus will need to shift to defending Latin America given that approval of the Delta-Latam Joint venture is likely later this year and, even by itself, Latam will be a much more nimble competitor than it was pre-covid.

As an loyal United person of Indian origin, I love IndiGo. It's by far the best Indian carrier in my opinion. Prices are very reasonable, the planes are clean and ontime and most importantly, their network is huge. You can easily get to anywhere in India on them.

Yes it's not a premium/legacy airline, but they sure do give a fight to the big boys. Most flights within India are sub 2-3 hours. Not long enough to matter to have a true premium experience, when you get all the other benefits that I mentioned.

You kidding me? There are hardly any rules for boarding and in-flight passenger behavior in airlines in India. Not saying US flights and/or airport experience are great, but some Indian airports and passengers are on another level. It's pure commotion and chaos.

Indigo is still far better than Spirit, Frontier etc.

I hear ya! I was expecting the same.

I was hoping Indigo would partner with Frontier

I do not understand the entire comment section as well as Ben’s take on indigo being a LCC. Indigo has extra leg room seats which are sold at 12 dollars and includes free meal with a choice of non alcoholic drink. Those who really feel to stretch their legs for an hour and half long flight can purchase it.
It is Probably the smartest decision by American Airlines in India. Indigo has a market share of 55% in India not to mention planes are clean new with super attentive FAs and always on time. I have flown indigo more than 100times within India n to neighbouring south Asian countries.
Also indigo allows 15kg check in with 7kg cabin plus a personal laptop carry on/messenger bag. You lot should really try Indigo once before demonising it.

Even though Indigo is a low cost carrier, they offer the ability to book a double or triple seat, which is cheaper than Vistara's business class fare. This gets you the privacy.

I think honestly partnering with IndiGo is better than with any other Indian airline solely from the fact of how huge/comprehensive/frequent their domestic network is. Even though it might be a LCC, I feel like most people would prefer that to unnecessarily waiting 8 hours to get to their destination (and IndiGo also offers many nonstop destinations from Delhi that even Air India doesn't).

I think you need to do a lot more research on the Indian and S. American aviation markets before you comment on these kinds of partnerships. They are fundamentally different markets and populations than the halo view you have for markets like the US and Europe. Full service carriers don’t just cater to miles-redeeming aspirational travelers in these markets, which is why the business cases have historically not fared well at all there (remember Jet Airways, Kingfisher, VARIG?). The current ones are basket cases (looking at LAN/TAM, Air India, Aerolineas Argentinas…), so AA is not in a bad position at all in its offering when you consider the local structures of these aviation markets.

Actually that’s not true. As an American who flies within India frequently (more than fifty foodies a year easily), my experience has always been that Indian domestic carriers are a touch better than the US3 and the other LCCs. Heck even the major airports are way nicer, but that’s expected considering there are of the U.S. airports. The full service airlines like Vistara are definitely better than the US3 while AI is on par with AA (AI has much better dining though). I’ve never seen any issues with boarding, especially since they board back to front, which is simply a smarter way to do things. Another plus is that I don’t have to be a witness to in flight rage, such as in the states. So while I’d like to say that things are better in the States, my experience suggests otherwise.

As far as I’m concerned, the only weak part of the AA-6E appliance is AA - the most hated airline in my books and unfortunately one that I need to fly frequently due to my base.

I think the most important point to consider is that the Indian mindset is changing and the Indian domestic airline market is so strong, it doesn’t really matter what anyone thinks. Indians are coming to terms with the fact that the outside perception is not important. They are who they are and they need not side with any power but must look out for their best interests. If someone doesn’t like it, then leave. I sense this transition, especially in the last ten years. On the airline front, time is money and people don’t care about the small things like in the states. Indians are impatient, in a good sense, so they just want to get from one place to another quickly. There are few routes that exceed four hours travel time so premium seating is not in great demand. Indian carriers are aware of this. Most of the business class seats on Vistara are occupied by upgrades for high value travellers. I usually get one of these as well since I travel on Vistara frequently when I’m in India for work. Indian carriers provide more generous seat pitch anyways. Connectivity is key. I always tell people that India is not for the meek. Everyone has a place to go so don’t get in their way. Time is precious and time is money. Things change once you sit down and have a meal with someone. Therefore, this alliance favours AA greatly. Indigo wouldn’t care since they have the majority of the market anyways.

For those who desire a personal touch, private jets are relatively more affordable and actually run chartered services across major destinations. I discovered recently that tickets can also be booked via the major travel portals. For example a ticket on a one way journey from Bombay to Delhi on a six seated private jet can currently be reserved for just over 400 US.

I think by western standards, all India airlines would be considered budget or LCC. I'm not saying this as a criticism, but the standards are different. I fly Indigo frequently, and like Southwest they deliver very well on their product. I welcome this and hope the partnership expands.

I think you comment is wrong. Vistara and Air India are not LCC by any standards. Vistara definitely offers a better on board experience and service than their US parallels, especially with the addition of their A320s gesturing beds in business and seat back entertainment at all seats. Furthermore, the dining is much better than what any full service offers in the west. No other airline offers such a service on 2-3 hour domestic journeys. Let’s not even talk about the EU since airlines, since inter-EU airline services and products are dismal.

Indigo is a touch above any of the LCCs in Europe and the U.S. due to their service, experience, and on board product offering generous pitch.

I have to fly in India for work. I fly on Vistara or Air India. I have not experienced any major issues with boarding, as you claim in your exaggeration. Boarding is done through groups of seating and smooth and quicker somehow that in the states. There may be a hustle to get off but it’s nothing excessive. Yes - the concept for personal space is very different in India but that’s just the same for anywhere in Asia. I guess the main thing is that India is not the west and nor should it strive to be. I also don’t think India or Indians care what we westerners think anymore, as we clearly have observed though their highly popular political stances.

Basically this article is written by someone who has little in knowledge, experience and understanding of the Indian aviation market, products and culture. Similarly, very few commentators who have actually traveled (recently or ever) in India Ave reliant on their outdated views of the subcontinent. I guess this can apply to pretty much any post on Indian and its airlines which I’ve seen in this blog.

Not the DCharlie below.

My thoughts as well: much rather get a 2hr cnnx on a LoCo than wait 8, 10, 12hrs (sometimes well into the wee hours of the dark morning) for AI's schedules to coincide.

And then there's their safety records to consider: IndiGo (acknowledging that they're far younger) is essentially spotless. AI..... not so much

Exactly what did you expect, when reading a Travel Site that openly specializes in credit-card enhanced premium travel experiences? Ergo, what exactly are you whining about?

It's not like this agreement with AA at DEL (and possibly, but unlikely BLR) prevents E6 from forming a similar agreement with DL at BOM. In fact, it'd make perfect sense for them to do just that.

Like what American and bigger picture OneWorld are doing - as for LATAM, American does not need them and Delta has inherited a mess of a partner. Good riddance LATAM....

Has anyone tried booking a domestic flight on Indigo using miles? I am wondering if that is a possibility now. I tried DEL - BLR, but that didn’t show any results.

Emily, I totally agree with you in this.

If Mike flyies IndiGo frequently, he should known their service is better than AA, UA and Delta. Even it is little better than Southwest.

Even the smallest airline from India is much better experience than biggest US and EU airlines. I have been Platinum on AA and now Gold on United. Unfortunately, flying experience in US and EU is very bad compared to India where service is above good.