Southwest Airlines & EVA Air Launch Partnership: What Are The Implications?

Southwest Airlines is currently undergoing a major transformation, which includes charging for checked bags, introducing assigned and extra legroom seating, etc. It goes beyond that, though, as Southwest is also increasingly launching airline partnerships.

Earlier this year, we saw Southwest launch its first partnership with Icelandair, and the expectation is that Southwest will fly to Iceland. Then we saw the airline announce China Airlines as its second partner, and now we’re seeing the airline reveal its third partner. This carrier is actually based at the same airport as the first partner in Asia, which makes you wonder about the strategic rationale.

New Southwest & EVA Air interline agreement

Southwest Airlines and EVA Air have introduced an interline agreement, which kicks in effective immediately. With this, travelers can start booking tickets that include travel on both Southwest and EVA Air. This is initially available at four transpacific gateways — Chicago (ORD), Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), and Seattle (SEA).

As Southwest describes it, “this partnership is another step forward as we continue our mission to bring more choices (and new horizons) to our Customers.” For context, EVA Air belongs to Star Alliance, and is based at Taipei Taoyuan (TPE). Funny enough, China Airlines is also based at that airport, and is the biggest competitor to EVA Air. So it’s interesting to see how Southwest’s two first Asian partners are based at the same airport.

For now this partnership only includes an interline agreement. This is the most basic level of cooperation two airlines can have. There’s no codeshare agreement, or loyalty collaboration, or anything. The interline agreement simply makes it possible to book a ticket that includes travel on both airlines. This possibility is already available online, on EVA Air’s website.

There’s not really a whole lot to this partnership

Southwest is still new to the world of airline partnerships, so it’s interesting to see the approach the carrier is taking. For example, Icelandair was announced as the first partner, and it seems pretty clear the airlines are actually planning a higher level of cooperation, eventually having a codeshare agreement, frequent flyer reciprocity, etc.

However, it’s interesting to now see Southwest partner with both SkyTeam’s China Airlines and Star Alliance’s EVA Air. These airlines are two huge competitors, so personally I wouldn’t read too much into this partnership.

For example, EVA Air and Alaska Airlines also have an interline agreement that lets you book tickets including travel on both airlines. However, those airlines don’t otherwise don’t have any sort of commercial cooperation beyond that.

I can see big upside to Southwest establishing close partnerships with foreign carriers that enhance the value proposition of the loyalty program. However, just picking up low pro-rated interline revenue doesn’t exactly seem like a strategy that will materially impact financial performance. Then again, with Southwest no longer being a “premium” airline that includes all kinds of services, I guess the company is more happy with that than in the past, and there’s not much downside to this.

Bottom line

Southwest Airlines and EVA Air have just launched a partnership. In reality, this is the most basic form of cooperation you can have, as this is simply an interline agreement that allows you to book travel including flights on both airlines (while also being able to check bags).

It’s interesting how Southwest’s first two interline partners in Asia are both based in Taipei, which suggests to me that these agreements will likely be pretty casual.

What do you make of Southwest & EVA Air partnering?