BA, AA and Iberia Formally Unveil Trilateral Alliance

BA, AA and Iberia Formally Unveil Trilateral Alliance

The CEOs of American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia are bullish on the benefits that their new trilateral relationship brings to their customers. The three carriers will now codeshare on more than 2,600 additional flights and are reconfiguring their departures. BA CEO Willie Walsh said the result is more convenience for passengers.

For example, departures between New York and London are now clustered around specific hours. But the new agreement means that, starting in the spring, the carriers can spread their departures throughout the day, essentially giving customers a choice of flights every hour. The same sort of scheduling realignment will happen in other hub cities such as Miami and Chicago.

Customers will be able to book flights for all three airlines on any of their websites. A BA flight will cost the same whether it is booked through American or Iberia. But there may be some fare differences. For example, an American flight between London and New York may cost more or less than a BA flight on the same route.

The alliance means that when one airline offers a special, passengers may be able to book that carrier on one leg of the flight but on another carrier for the return should the price be less expensive that way. Travel agents using GDSs will be able to access all fares because of the expanded codesharing, allowing them to mix and match flights from different carriers to get the best fare for their clients.

Frequent-flyer customers will now be able to earn and redeem awards consistently across all three airlines on the Atlantic. Corporations also will be able to get integrated account management across all three airlines. That also means that flights that didn’t provide a good return in the past should start to do so now.

Walsh said BA is starting a Heathrow-Terminal 5 flight to San Diego in the spring for the third time. In the past, the route did not pull in enough traffic to be profitable, but Walsh is confident that this time it will work, now that American and Iberia customers have easy access to it. Using this same rationale, American also is starting new routes, including JFK-Budapest and Chicago-Helsinki; and Iberia is starting Madrid-Los Angeles service.

Gerard Arpey, American’s chairman and CEO, said that the vast potential of the new alliance was a major reason why American has been able to recall 250 pilots and 550 flight attendants back to work. American bringing these staffers back to work so it can capitalize on new international flying and business opportunities with BA and Iberia, and to prepare for its pending alliance with Japan Airlines.

Part of the joint partnership includes beefed up customer service. Customers with tight connections will be met by dedicated staff to help them to their departing flight. Should they miss a flight, this same staff will expedite rebooking. Such centers are already up and running at Heathrow, JFK, Miami and Chicago.

Call centers also are doing “warm transfers.” If a customer is talking to an American representative and he or she would be better served by talking directly to a BA or Iberia representative, they will be transferred to another representative, who will be briefed on the customer’s situation before speaking to that customer.

The new joint venture means that Madrid’s Barajas’ airport, which has plenty of capacity, can grow as a major gateway to North America. It also allows the three airlines to cooperate commercially on flights between the European Union, Switzerland and Norway and the United States, Mexico and Canada. The agreement has been approved by the competition authorities of the EU and the U.S.