American and Alaska Airlines breathe fresh air into US competition

Although the US remains a mature market, with FSCs, LCCs and ULCCs firmly entrenched in their respective strategies, occasionally interesting developments occur.

During the past few months one of the more fascinating events was Delta's surprise tie-up with LATAM, which is dissolving a long term partnership with American and exiting the oneworld alliance.

It appeared as if American Airlines would accept LATAM's defection without much protest or examination of its own international strategy. But now American and Alaska Air Group have opted to cancel a planned dissolution of their relationship, and instead are bolstering their partnership to enable American to introduce new long haul service from Seattle, which is a coastal hub for Delta. It is an interesting move by American, which is in the midst of making a major push from its hubs in Dallas/Fort Worth and Charlotte.

Alaska has also pledged to become a fully fledged member of the oneworld alliance in 2021, at a time when scrutiny of the intensity of alliances is growing. Alaska has flirted with oneworld in the past, and now it seems as if the airline is ready to commit in order to bolster its position among corporate elites in Seattle.