Originally Posted by
SK AAR
That would indeed be very generous - and big time loss making for AY. I wouldn't be surprised if restrictions for rebooking on other OW carriers are imposed.
AY is in a metal neutral joint venture with AA, BA and IB on the transatlantic routes. The operating carrier is irrelevant in terms of how much revenue AY collects—all they need is their AY code on the flight.
There might be legal reasons for it. If the operating carrier is changed at the last moment, it seems a bit unfair on the passenger.