DL and AA No More Interline Agreement; Then Interline Agreement Returns January 2018
Sep 11, 2015, 8:37 am
#31
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 3,394
I got recently rebooked at ORD on my way to SAN on AA. It was a Y fare but I received the receipt and it was HEAVILY DISCOUNTED. As a matter of fact, it was about the same price as my original discounted economy fare on DL (X or T something like that).
Being on Y fare and seeing 2 first class seats available, I called AA to use miles or cash to upgrade and was told that this Y fare was not upgradable.
Being on Y fare and seeing 2 first class seats available, I called AA to use miles or cash to upgrade and was told that this Y fare was not upgradable.
It doesn't make sense for airlines to keep paying each other for individual tickets. To me it makes sense for the airlines to see who owes who more money at the end of whatever time period and cut 1 check instead of hundreds of little checks back and forth.
Sep 11, 2015, 8:46 am
#32
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Unfortunate to see this option go away but I think that is the nature of the business at this point and I wouldn't be surprised to see more interline agreements removed, especially with domestic carriers.
Last edited by TTT; Sep 11, 2015 at 8:52 am
Sep 11, 2015, 9:30 am
#34
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 3,394
Where with the AA/US integration looming it could impact a lot of their customers if things go poorly could come back to the table and pay DL what it wants.
Sep 11, 2015, 9:34 am
#35
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There's a lot of silly comments here, and the same old suspects continue to post the same old nonsense...
1. AA/US send more people to DL then DL does to AA/US.
2. DL recognized this and said- you need to pay more if taking advantage of our investment in operational performance.
3. AA said no, and thus there is no deal.
Sounds fair to me, not sure how this turned into an evil DL story. Should be looking at AA's refusal to pay up if you want to find the bad guy.
1. AA/US send more people to DL then DL does to AA/US.
2. DL recognized this and said- you need to pay more if taking advantage of our investment in operational performance.
3. AA said no, and thus there is no deal.
Sounds fair to me, not sure how this turned into an evil DL story. Should be looking at AA's refusal to pay up if you want to find the bad guy.
Sep 11, 2015, 9:36 am
#36
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They don't, this is what a clearing house takes care of.
Sep 11, 2015, 10:09 am
#37
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For those interested, here is the ACH webpage (Airline Clearing House).
http://www.airlinesclearinghouse.com/Pages/Home.aspx
Some information on how this all works.
http://www.airlinesclearinghouse.com/Pages/Home.aspx
Some information on how this all works.
Sep 11, 2015, 10:27 am
#38
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Exactly, if DL had to pay full Y anyway, it would have been cheaper in many cases to go to www.southwest.com or www.jetblue.com and just buy a ticket for the passenger--but obviously they don't do that. They negotiate a reasonable discount on walk up fares which benefits both carriers. If DL is truly taking in more passengers than that are "giving" to AA, then DL is getting a reasonable amount of revenue for seats that would likely be empty anyway.
Sep 11, 2015, 10:29 am
#39
Join Date: Jul 2005
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Yet another aspect in which Southwest is superior to the lagacy airlines.
Interlining is just another vestigal appendage of the old days.
Interlining is just another vestigal appendage of the old days.
Sep 11, 2015, 10:35 am
#40
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 3,394
Remember when the roof flew off the WN 737 a few years ago and half the WN fleet was grounded? People either had to buy their own walk up ticket on DL/AA/UA etc or wait multiple days until there was an available WN flight.
Sep 11, 2015, 10:40 am
#41
Join Date: Aug 2006
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I was due to fly SFO-DTW-CLE earlier this year, but the SFO-DTW flight was delayed for hours due to a mechanical. DL sent me on UA instead of SFO-MSP-CLE or SFO-ATL-CLE, which were both feasible.
Sep 11, 2015, 10:47 am
#42
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Interestingly enough, American went out of its way to list Alaska Airlines as one airline it will continue to interline with, in addition to listing United.
American and Delta End Interline Agreement
The above appeared in FBT, where I serve as Ed.Dir.
American and Delta End Interline Agreement
...American’s interline agreements with United, the world’s second largest airline, will continue, as will its agreements with other airlines including Alaska Airlines as well as its joint business and one world partners, the airline said....
Sep 11, 2015, 12:11 pm
#43
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I think it's financially beneficial for the airlines to not interline however it's not superior for customers.
Remember when the roof flew off the WN 737 a few years ago and half the WN fleet was grounded? People either had to buy their own walk up ticket on DL/AA/UA etc or wait multiple days until there was an available WN flight.
Remember when the roof flew off the WN 737 a few years ago and half the WN fleet was grounded? People either had to buy their own walk up ticket on DL/AA/UA etc or wait multiple days until there was an available WN flight.
It is one less differentiating factor between DL and its competitors though. JFK to SFO/LAX is a perfect example. DL had multiple UA/AA flights to protect people on in the event of something going wrong. Now UA is leaving the market and AA/B6/VX are no longer back up options for DL passengers.
Is this good for DL---maybe--but it is certainly not going to good for customers with discounted tickets.
Sep 11, 2015, 12:17 pm
#44
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Sep 11, 2015, 12:21 pm
#45
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My one experience with IROPS rebooking onto US was a total nightmare last year. US dropped my reservation because it involved a paper ticket and their reservation system wasn't fully linked up correctly, and I got stranded in Pittsburgh with them refusing to help.
The absolutely fabulous DL staff at PIT escalated to DL corporate and made it right - heavily overselling their own flights via Atlanta to get me to my destination. But the US staff had no interest in all at helping even understand what went wrong until a DL agent walked over to work with them on my behalf.
My point in this anecdote - Clearly some of this decision was simple contractual terms (e.g. they couldn't come to an agreement on costs), but I also wonder if some of it was a reaction to a poor customer experience when the interline agreement was used.
We've come a long way since 2012, when DL and AA actually codeshared on a few regional flights out of LAX...
The absolutely fabulous DL staff at PIT escalated to DL corporate and made it right - heavily overselling their own flights via Atlanta to get me to my destination. But the US staff had no interest in all at helping even understand what went wrong until a DL agent walked over to work with them on my behalf.
My point in this anecdote - Clearly some of this decision was simple contractual terms (e.g. they couldn't come to an agreement on costs), but I also wonder if some of it was a reaction to a poor customer experience when the interline agreement was used.
We've come a long way since 2012, when DL and AA actually codeshared on a few regional flights out of LAX...