It’s possible I’m reading too much into this, but it sure seems to me like American Airlines may be planning on adding flights to Mumbai in the not-too-distant future.
Continue reading: Is American Airlines Planning Mumbai Flights?
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Adding a nonstop to BOM from NYC area will provide a good competition to Star Alliance UA AND AI, also it wouldn’t hurt for Delta to resume their nonstop service to BOM as well, however I think the most intriguing route is the last one to MLE since indigo flies non stop, currently the only option is on Srilankan with one stop in CMB.
Possibly could be to provide connections from the existing BA operated LHRBOM codeshare, although that would require BA/6E to have an interline agreement too, which I'm not seeing yet.
Indigo usually operates from T1 @ BOM(for last few months, all low cost carriers were moved to T2). The transfer from T2 to T1 is quite a pain. Nevertheless, will be good to have more options to BOM
I suspect that the 6E BOM codeshares are more useful for the current AA codeshare with BA.
This way people can onwards connect on a single AA itinerary after arriving in BOM on BA139 (which is also sold by AA as AA6657).
Theoretically one can fly the same itinerary from MAF-DFW-LHR-BOM-AMD with an AA/BA/6E codeshare all on an AA itinerary with Eagle metal, AA or BA metal, BA metal, and 6E metal.
Ben, I do think you should re-orient the way you write about LCCs, especially in this context. You often write about them in a way that implies a LCC is, ipso facto, a not particularly great airline (..."while IndiGo is a low-cost carrier, this at least...")
All it means is their cost structure. There are certainly low cost carriers that are quite crappy. But there are others like Azul, or GOL, or IndiGo, that are actually quite nice. Out of all the options in India, IndiGo might be the the best.
Air India is an extremely high cost airline, that is not particularly better than IndiGo w/r/t reliability and service.
American is so clueless in route planning, considering their extreme debt load.
Anyone notice how American, has now turned to making DFW a mega hub, NYC all the sudden they love to grow because jetblue and now they have turned to Alaska for Seattle growth.
Odd that such a large airlines doesn't seem to know how to use the hub and spoke model for international flights
Wouldn't be surprised if UA adds SFO-BOM service in response to AA's entry into BOM.
IndiGo I mind not flying. The real question is whether I want to fly an airline as pathetic as American on such a long-distance route.
Lucky: unrelated but great news regarding Norwegian's CashPoints - restriction on CashPoints use will be lifted as of November 1st, 2021:
https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/air/norwegian-air-removes-restriction-on-use-of-rewards-scheme-points
Does one have to book these flights if standalone on AA website or could one still book directly with Indigo and still bank the miles to AA FFP?
Would one earn EQMs and EQDs on these flights or just RDMs?
Can someone explain why no one is flying SFO-BOM nonstop? I've been waiting for it for years!
UA could make a killing on this route esp with no competition unless AI follows them.
I think he's really saying they don't offer a short haul first class product/experience. No lounges, no better seats, etc.
@ Shri -- Reciprocal mileage earning and redemption opportunities haven't yet fully been published, but I believe the intent (at least initially) is that you can only earn miles if you're booking a codeshare on IndiGo through American. That could change over time, though.
@ DMNYC -- Totally fair in general, and I don't mean "low cost carrier" as an insult or to suggest the quality isn't good. Rather my point is that for travelers paying for business class, it's not exactly ideal to have a connecting flight on an airline without lounges, business class, etc. I know if I were flying to India in business class and had to connect, I'd rather fly United connecting to Vistara than American connecting to IndiGo. Wouldn't you?
I am much more excited about the reciprocal benefits between Lufthansa and Vistara, just announced.
American and United are both adding a bunch of new international flights but that might not be the greatest idea given that both paid a significant premium for jet fuel in the third quarter and will do so in the fourth quarter as well. Further, American's systemwide fuel efficiency was the lowest of the big 3 for the third quarter.
What does this comment even mean?
DFW is their home and largest hub, so that's no surprise.
They were a distant third in NYC among the US3, and essentially a nobody in Seattle, so it's also no surprise that they didn't expand either until forming alliances with stronger carriers in each.
AS entry into OW is a game changer for AA at SEA, even with their current, token presence to most of their hubs, plus Heathrow. They're third in NYC yes, but DL is responding to the AA/B6 partnership by adding 100 flights across the big 3 NY area airports. So, AA isn't quite the irrelevant operator in the markets you mention.
Finally someone wakes up to the explosive demand that an nonstop to BOM from US can tap into. Unfortunate that it's likely the weakest of the 3 big carriers to have come up with this but its a great one nevertheless.
AI discontinued EWR-BOM nonstop due to internal politics and moved it to DEL, in addition to JFK-DEL. Further, UAL has missed out on connecting BOM from many other hubs despite having nonstops to DEL from SFO/ORD/EWR. I think with the size of the city, there's going to be enough incremental O&D traffic to support it.
@Lucky - One other development which flew under the radar recently was that UA downgraded EWR-BOM to a 787-9 right ahead of the peak travel season and travel ban removal, also coinciding with AI pulling out of this route. It is a very bizarre move that I can't make sense of. Thoughts?
This is welcome news for someone like me who used to fly EWR-BOM twice a month for 5 years. I had to move my loyalty from AA to UA - now I can move back. 🙂 Great to have more options!
..and the codeshares will only be available to book in connection with an AA flight into India - it won't be possible to book them as standalone AA flights - there'll be no fares filed as AA doesn't have the rights to fly domestically in India.
Fair point!
Although we DO live in the Vasu Raja "the network is the product" era, so maybe they're counting on people not caring about whether their seat is paper thin, and just appreciating all the markets IndiGo connects /s 🙂
As Mark Twain once observed, "There are three kinds of lies - lies, damned lies, and statistics."
I'm guessing we'll find out if American will fly to Mumbai sooner than later. On another site, Vasu Raja mentioned that American's partnership with Qatar has helped create a potential customer base in India. And having an Indian codeshare partner won't hurt either. We'll see how well American does in India eventually, but at this point, it may not hurt to test the waters.
I’d rather fly by 1-stop Qatar and book separate tickets through Vistara, instead.
No way I’m flying a long haul, in a non-stop AA and then take IndiGo.
My one experience flying IndiGo was about 10 years ago, and it was so phenomenal that I would actually prefer it over various crappy business class experiences I've had. Every single employee was on-point, polite and friendly. The flight was on time and the plane was spotless. We flew out of the domestic terminal in BOM, which was fairly new at the time, and it was truly amazing - beautiful, clean, organized and quiet. If the experience is still like that, it beats a crowded lounge with surly agents any time.
On top of that, flights within India are fairly short, so it's easy to put up with economy class seats for a couple of hours. (Of course Vistara business class might be even more amazing; I have no idea.)
Well it's good to see that AA is finally expanding into India. It would be good to see them launch two (2) destination, sea and jfk would be great but air india and united already have bom already in the nyc area, so the only other east coast city I think it would work best is Boston. Anyone agree? Let's see if american can let this stick because they love to run from a little competition!!!
Not sure if you know about AA hubs but dfw is the largest and home hub for them. Every airline have hubs which perform the best and would send money routes through there.
AA is dfw,UA is ord,DL is atl,AS is sea. I do understand the debt load but they still have to try and see which international market they can tap into and make money. They cannot stick to South America, Europe and North America, they have to expand in Asia (last frontier) for them.
AI's EWR-BOM is back now, about 3-4 times a week. With AI back to Tata, which is headquartered in Mumbai - I expect AI to increase focus on Mumbai again. Plus with Navi Mumbai airport expected to open sometime in the next 5-10 years (hopefully), expecting a lot more slots open up for Mumbai.
American Airlines should really do a Dallas-Mumbai flight. United and AI can do a SFO-BOM. Delta can do a SEA-BOM and bring back their JFK-BOM/ATL-BOM. And I am pretty sure Vistara will introduce a EWR-BOM at some point as well. Most airlines are just waiting for their aircraft deliveries. Hope the situation improves from Mumbai's aviation market in the next 10 years.
Its a really long route and very few airlines have the right aircraft for it. It will take around 17 hours both ways. But I agree that this route has really high potential - can go full all year round/daily. Only United and AI can really pull it off, given they have hubs at SFO/StarAllaince.
AI has been ignoring Mumbai since 2014 onwards due to politics otherwise they would have already done it. United's routes are probably also governed by their alliance with AI, so they have stayed away from it too. I was surprised when United decided to start SFO-BLR before BOM, an airport they have been flying to since several years.
Losing Jet Airways in 2019 only made things worse for the Mumbai airport. I am also surprised no airline connects Mumbai with Toronto year round (Air Canada is seasonal), Sydney, Los Angeles, Shanghai/Beijing and Auckland - all important world cities and commercial centers.
The codeshare with Indigo does not seem to exist other than on paper. I take the JFK/DEL flight six or more times per year for business. I've had AA agents tell me they "have no flights to sell me within India." I've tried to book directly with Indigo, but they do not accept US based credit cards. Serious problem there. Save yourself the aggrevation and book with Air India within India. They seem to be the only carrier in India that has a proper business/first class section. My business takes me to Mumbai only, so the DEL flight merely keeps me away from the dreaded London Heathrow Airport with any of the connection options to Mumbai. Round trip DEL/BOM is around $500 for business class (and about $170 economy). Business class also gets you fast track through security and lounge access, so well worth the extra cost. General boarding security in Indian Airports can have very lengthy lines. No such thing as TSA Prechek either.
On the direct flight to Mumbai note for AA, I know it's in the works. There are some contractual things to work out, but it is coming.