Originally Posted by ashill

AA does also have JVs with IB, QF, and JL (plus BA, as mentioned above), in addition to having non-immunized partner access to all the AS flights that DL does (and DL's advantage in terms of reciprocal elite recognition with AS relative to AA got much smaller last month, with the introduction of mutual checked bag fee waivers, preferred seats, and preferred check-in and security for AA and AS elites) and a non-immunized partner relationship with CX. I don't know exactly how the numbers stack up, but I'd wager that AA+partners are still significantly larger than DL+partners at LAX.

All that said, I've recently switched from AA to DL because AAdvantage just isn't viable for a short term SYD-based discount economy traveler, but that has a lot more to do with QF earning on AAdvantage than it does with AA's and DL's respective networks out of LAX.

At the end of the day, DL has a near-monopoly on SLC, whereas LAX is AA's only viable option for a beyond-perimeter DCA flight. AA taking DCA-LAX and DL taking a second DCA-SLC slot pair is probably a win for both airlines as well as for consumers in general -- the only "losers" are LAX-based DL loyalists.